Part 1

Mesa Verde [COLORADO] National Park

United States Department of the Interior _Harold L. Ickes, Secretary_

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE _Arno B. Cammerer, Director_

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1936

Rules and Regulations [BRIEFED]

A complete copy of the rules and regulations for governing the park may be seen at the office of the superintendent.

_Automobiles_

Secure automobile permit, fee $1 per car. Speed limit 35 miles per hour on entrance highway, 20 miles per hour in headquarters area and on ruin roads. Drive carefully; free wheeling is prohibited within the park.

_Fires_

Confine fires to designated places. Extinguish completely before leaving camp, even for temporary absences. Do not guess your fire is out—KNOW IT.

_Firewood_

Use only the wood that is stacked and marked “firewood” near your campsite. By all means do not use your ax on any standing tree or strip bark from the junipers.

_Grounds_

Burn all combustible rubbish before leaving your camp. Do not throw papers, cans, or other refuse on the ground or over the canyon rim. Use the incinerators which are placed for this purpose.

_Hiking_

Do not venture away from the headquarters area unless accompanied by a guide or after first having secured permission from a duly authorized park officer.

_Hunting_

Hunting is prohibited within the park. This area is a sanctuary for all wildlife.

_Noise_

Be quiet in camp after others have gone to bed. Many people come here for rest.

_Park Rangers_

The rangers are here to help and advise you as well as to enforce regulations. When in doubt, ask a ranger.

_Ruins and Structures_

Do not mark, disturb, or injure in any way the ruins or any of the buildings, signs, or other properties within the park.

_Trees, Flowers, and Animals_

Do not carve initials upon or pull the bark from any logs or trees. Flowers may not be picked unless written permission is obtained from the superintendent or park naturalist. Do not harm or frighten any of the wild animals or birds within the park. We wish to protect them for your enjoyment.

_Visitors_

Register and secure permit at the park entrance. Between travel seasons, registration and permit are arranged for at park headquarters.

Events OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE

1st century[1] The earliest occupation of Cliff Palace cave was B. C. or A. D. probably before, or immediately following, the beginning of the Christian era. These earliest occupants, known to scientists as Basket Makers, were the first agricultural Indians of the Southwest. 4th to 7th[1] By the beginning of the fourth century A. D., the centuries A. D. early agriculturists were developing the art of pottery making. Later, their semisubterranean homes were spread widely over the Mesa Verde. 7th to 10th[1] During the three or four centuries preceding 1000 A. centuries A. D. D., the Pueblo Culture on Mesa Verde was developing from modest beginnings toward its classical stage, which culminated in the building of the great cliff dwelling. 1066 Earliest date established for large Mesa Verde cliff dwellings. (Beam section from Mug House.) 1073-1273 Construction of Cliff Palace. 1276 Beginning of 23-year drought, an important factor in forcing the Cliff dwellers from the Mesa Verde. 1776 Expedition of Padre Silvestre Velez de Escalante to southwestern Colorado. Party camped at the base of the Mesa Verde. 1859 Ascent of the north escarpment of Mesa Verde by Capt. J. N. Macomb, of the United States Army, and members of his party of geologists. 1874 Discovery of the ruins in the Mancos Canyon by W. H. Jackson, United States Geological Survey. Party attacked by Ute Indians. 1888 Discovery of Cliff Palace and other major ruins by Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason. 1891 First organized archeological expedition to Mesa Verde, under direction of Baron G. Nordenskiöld. 1906 Mesa Verde National Park created June 29. 1907 Excavation of Spruce Tree House by Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, of Smithsonian Institution. 1909 Excavation of Cliff Palace. 1911 Excavation and repair of Balcony House by Jesse L. Nusbaum. 1913 First entrance road completed. First automobile in Spruce Tree Camp. Extension of park boundaries to include notable ruins and archeological remains. 1914 Construction of first wagon road from Spruce Tree Camp to principal cliff dwellings. 1915 Sun Temple excavated by Dr. Fewkes. 1916 Far View House excavated by Dr. Fewkes. 1917 First Government-constructed trails to Spring House and Soda Canyon. 1918 First camp accommodations established at Spruce Tree Camp. 1919 Square Tower House excavated. 1921 Establishment of superintendent’s office and home at Spruce Tree Camp. 1925 First unit of park museum constructed from donated funds. 1926 Excavation of Step House Ruin and discovery of very early occupation of cave by Basket Maker III culture predating the cliff dwellers by several hundred years. 1928 Exclusive jurisdiction of park tendered to the United States and accepted by act of Congress April 25. 1934 Completion of deep water well (4,192 feet).

Contents

_Page_ The Ruins 3 Spruce Tree House 5 Cliff Palace 8 Balcony House 11 Square Tower House 12 Oak Tree House 15 Sun Set House 15 Sun Temple 15 New Fire-House Group 19 Cedar Tree Tower 21 Far View House, a Mesa Verde Pueblo 21 Earth Lodge A 25 Unexcavated Ruins 25 Dates for Mesa Verde Ruins Established by Tree-Ring Chronology 26 Discoveries of Recent Years 27 Prehistoric Inhabitants of the Mesa Verde 28 Fauna and Flora 32 How to Reach the Park 33 By Automobile 33 By Railroad 34 Motor Transportation 35 Administration 35 Educational Service 36 Guided Trips to the Ruins 36 Camp-fire Talks 37 Park Museum 37 Reference Library 38 Free Public Camp Grounds 38 Horseback and Hiking Trips 38 Hospital and Medical Service 39 Accommodations and Expenses 39 References 40

What to Do

THINGS TO SEE ON WAY FROM PARK ENTRANCE TO HEADQUARTERS

3.5 miles—Top of first grade—Mancos Valley and La Plata Mountains.

5.0 miles—Knife Edge Road—Montezuma Valley and Sleeping Ute Mountain.

10.5 miles—Scenic road to Park Point, highest elevation within Mesa Verde National Park, 8,575 feet above sea level; 2,200 feet above the Montezuma Valley. View into four States—Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.

16.0 miles—Pueblo III ruins on top of mesa—Far View House Ruin, Pipe Shrine House Ruin, Far View Tower Ruin.

18.5 miles—Cedar Tree Tower Ruin—road branches off to left.

20.0 miles—Park headquarters. Park ranger will meet your car and give information.

THINGS TO DO WHILE ON THE MESA VERDE

MOTOR CARAVANS TO RUINS—DAILY. USE YOUR OWN CAR. NO CHARGE FOR GUIDE SERVICE

8 a. m.—Earth Lodge A, Square Tower House, Little Long House, Sun Point, Fire Temple, Sun Temple. Return 11:15 a. m. Distance 6½ miles.

10 a. m.—A shortened trip of morning route to accommodate late comers. Return 11:15 a. m.

1:30 p. m.—Cliff Palace, Rim Drive, Balcony House. Return 4:15 p. m. Distance 7 miles.

3 p. m.—A shortened trip of the 1:30 route to accommodate late comers. Does not go through Cliff Palace but views this ruin from the top of the mesa. Return 4:30 p. m.

MOTOR CARAVAN TO PARK POINT—DAILY. USE YOUR OWN CAR

6:30 or 7 p. m.—Time of leaving will vary to arrive at Park Point to view colorful sunset. Ranger in charge will discuss the flora, geology, and scenic points. Distance 24 miles.

CAMPFIRE LECTURE—DAILY

8 p. m.—In circle at park headquarters. Archeological story of the Southwest.

9 p. m.—Ceremonial dance by Navajo Indians.

THINGS TO DO—NOT ON REGULAR SCHEDULE

Museum—Open from 8 a. m. to 5:30 p. m. A splendid collection of material from the cliff ruins and other sections of the Southwest.

Community building—A display of cut wild flowers. Porch with comfortable chairs. View of Spruce Tree Ruin. Open at all times.

Spruce Tree Ruin—Below park headquarters. May be visited at your leisure without guide. Ranger on duty in this ruin for information.

Nature trail—The path to Spruce Tree Ruin has been prepared with a series of signs explaining the flora and rock formations.

Horseback trips—Splendid trails lead in all directions. Large, unexcavated ruins, magnificent canyons and mesas off the beaten path unfold the charm of this primitive region. Rates are very reasonable.

Hikes—To any section of the park can be arranged for with the park naturalist. If sufficient numbers enroll for such hikes, a naturalist guide will be provided.

ACCOMMODATIONS

At park headquarters, 20 miles from entrance. Spruce Tree Lodge—Cabins, tents, and meals. General store and curios. Free Government camp ground. Firewood and water furnished.

MESA VERDE _National Park_

· SEASON FROM MAY 15 TO OCTOBER 15 ·

The mesa verde, or green mesa, so-called because its juniper and piñon trees give it a verdant tone, is 15 miles long by 8 miles wide. Rising abruptly from the valley on the north side, its top slopes gradually southward to the high cliffs bordering the valley of the Mancos River on the south. Into this valley open a number of large high-walled canyons through which occasionally, in times of heavy rain, raging torrents of water flow into the Mancos. In the shelter of the caves that have been eroded in the sides of these canyons are some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in America, built many centuries ago by a tribe of peace-loving Indians who prized the security offered by the almost inaccessible caves. In order to preserve these cliff dwellings Mesa Verde National Park was created, but they are not the only attractions in the area. In the winter the park is closed to travel by deep snow, but in the early spring the blanket of snow is replaced by a mantle of flowers that change with the seasons, and to the story of the prehistoric inhabitants is added an absorbing story of nature that is peculiar to this mesa and canyon country.

“The Mesa Verde region”, writes Arthur Chapman, “has many attractions besides its ruins. It is a land of weird beauty. The canyons which seam the mesa, all of which lead toward the distant Mancos River, are, in many cases, replicas of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. While the summer days are warm, the nights are cool, and the visitor should bring plenty of wraps besides the clothing and shoes necessary for the work of climbing around among the trails. It is a country for active footwork, just as it was in the days of the cliff dwellers themselves. But when one has spent a few days among the cedars and piñon pines of the Mesa Verde, well named Green Table by the Spaniards of early days, he becomes an enthusiast and will be found among those who return again and again to this most unique of national parks to study its mysteries and its beauties from all angles.”

The northern edge of the mesa terminates in a precipitous bluff, averaging 2,000 feet above the Montezuma Valley. The general slope of the surface is to the south, and as the main road to the ruins meanders back and forth in heading each smaller canyon, many times skirting the very brink of the great northern fault line, tremendous expanses of diversified terrain are brought into view, first in Colorado and Utah, then in Arizona and New Mexico.

A new scenic road approximately 1 mile in length branches from the main highway at a point 8 miles beyond the entrance checking station and ascends to the crest of Park Point, the highest part of the Mesa Verde National Park, which attains an elevation of 8,575 feet above sea level.

From this majestic prominence the great Montezuma Valley, dotted with artificial lakes and fertile fields, appears as from an airplane, while to the north are seen the Rico Mountains and the Lone Cone of Colorado, and to the east, the La Plata Mountains. To the west the La Sals, the Blues, and Bears Ears, of Utah, dominate the horizon. Some of these landmarks are more than 115 miles distant. Southward numerous deep canyons, in which the more important cliff dwellings are found, subdivide the Mesa Verde into many long, narrow, tonguelike mesas. The dark purplish canyon of the Mancos River is visible in the middle foreground, and beyond, above the jagged outline of the mesa to the south, the Navajo Reservation, surrounded by the deep-blue Carrizos of Arizona and the Lukachukai and Tunichas of New Mexico.

In the midst of this great mountain-enclosed, sandy plain, which, seen from the mesa, resembles a vast inland sea surrounded by dark, forbidding mountains, rises Ship Rock (45 miles distant), a great, jagged shaft of igneous rock, 1,860 feet high, which appears for all the world like a great “windjammer” under full sail. Toward evening the illusion is perfect.

The distance from Park Point to Spruce Tree Camp, the park headquarters, is 12 miles. The entire road from the park entrance to headquarters, 20 miles, is gravel surfaced and oil treated, full double width, and cars may pass at any point thereon.

Although there are hundreds of cliff dwellings within the Mesa Verde National Park, the more important are located in Rock, Long, Wickiup, Navajo, Spruce, Soda, Moccasin, and tributary canyons. Surface ruins of a different type are widely distributed over the narrow mesas separating the numerous canyons. A vast area surrounding the park contains more or less important ruins of these early inhabitants, most important and easiest of access from the park being the Aztec Ruins and Chaco Canyon National Monuments, New Mexico; the Yucca House National Monument, Colorado; and the Hovenweep National Monument, Colorado-Utah.

THE RUINS

Although the Spaniards were in the Mesa Verde region as early as 1765 and the Americans as early as 1859, it was not until 1872 that the first settlement was made. In that year the Mancos Valley, lying at the foot of the Mesa Verde, was settled, but because of the fact that the mesa itself was a stronghold of the warlike Ute Indians, many years passed before the cliff dwellings were discovered.

The ruins in the Mancos Canyon were discovered as early as 1874 when W. H. Jackson, who led a Government party, found there many small dwellings broken down by the weather. The next year he was followed by Prof. W. H. Holmes, later chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology, who drew attention to the remarkable stone towers also found in this region. Had either of the explorers followed up the side canyons of the Mancos they would have then discovered ruins which, in the words of Baron Gustav Nordenskiöld, the talented Swedish explorer, are “so magnificent that they surpass anything of the kind known in the United States.”

The largest cliff ruin, known as Cliff Palace, was discovered by Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason while hunting cattle one December day in 1888. Coming to the edge of a small canyon they first caught sight of a village under the overhanging cliff on the opposite side, placed like a picture in its rocky frame. In their enthusiasm they thought it was a palace. With the same enthusiasm the visitors of today involuntarily express their pleasure and surprise as the spectacle breaks on their astonished vision.

Later these two men explored this ruin and gave it the name of Cliff Palace, an unfortunate designation, for it is in no respect a palace, but a community house, containing over 200 living rooms, former abodes of families, and 23 ceremonial rooms or kivas. They also discovered other community dwellings, one of which was called Spruce Tree House, from a large spruce tree, since cut down, growing in front of it. This had 8 ceremonial rooms and probably housed 300 inhabitants.

The findings of these two ruins did not complete the discoveries of ancient buildings in the Mesa Verde; many other ruins were found by the Wetherills, and others who need not now be mentioned. They mark the oldest and most congested region of the park, but the whole number of archeological sites may reach into the thousands.

Only a few of the different types of ruins that have already been excavated and repaired and are now accessible to the visitor are considered herein. This excavation and repair was the work of the late Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, formerly chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology, with the exception of Balcony House, which was done by Jesse L. Nusbaum. Hundreds of sites await scientific investigation, being accessible now only on foot or horseback mainly by means of trails.

SPRUCE TREE HOUSE

Spruce Tree House, located in a large cave just across Spruce Tree Canyon from the museum, has been made readily accessible by a short winding trail. This is the only excavated cliff dwelling in the park that may be visited without going on a conducted tour, and is open to the public at all times. A ranger is always on duty to protect the ruin from vandalism and to give information to the visitors.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The total length of Spruce Tree House is 216 feet, and its greatest width is 89 feet. During the excavation of the ruin in 1907, Dr. Fewkes counted 8 ceremonial rooms, or kivas, and 114 rooms that had been used for living, storage, and other purposes. At least 14 seemed to have been storage and burial rooms so that probably not more than 100 were used as dwellings. If it is considered that a family occupied each room, the population would have been large, but it is doubtful if all of the rooms were occupied at one time. An average of 2 or 3 persons to the room, making a total of not more than 300 for the entire village, would no doubt be a fair estimate.

Two hundred feet north of Spruce Tree House the canyon comes to an abrupt box end. A splendid spring flows from the base of the sandstone cliff, and it was to this spring that the cliff-dweller women went for water carrying it back to their homes in their big water jars. At the south end of the cave a trail, consisting of small toeholds cut in the cliff, led to the mesa top above. This trail was used by the men as they went to their mesa-top fields, where they raised corn, beans, and squash, and by the hunters as they went in search of deer and mountain sheep that lived in the forests above.

LIVING ROOMS

The rooms of Spruce Tree House are divided into two groups by a court or street running from the front to the back of the cave, at a point just south of the center of the village. The majority of the rooms are north of this street, and some of the walls show the finest work in the entire structure. The stones were well shaped and smoothed; the mud mortar was carefully worked into the crevices and compressed with thin stone wedges. Over many of the walls was spread a thin coat of reddish plaster, often decorated with paintings. These rooms, standing as when they were constructed 700 years ago, are mute evidence of the cleverness of the masons who built them.

Spruce Tree House has more walls that reach the top of the cave than any other ruin in the park. All through the central part the walls were three stories high and the top of the cave served as the roof of the upper rooms. The first- and second-story rooms, however, had their own ceilings. Heavy rafters, running lengthwise of the rooms, were covered with a crosswise layer of small poles and withes, and these in turn were covered with a 3-inch layer of mud. Very often a small hatchway was left in one corner of the ceiling and a short ladder leaning in the corner of the lower room gave access to the room above.

Very few of the houses were equipped with fire pits. Most of the cooking was done in the open courts and the small fire pits can be found along the walls and in the corners of the courts and passageways.

CEREMONIAL ROOMS OR KIVAS

Spruce Tree House has eight of the circular, subterranean rooms that were set aside for ceremonial purposes. Similar rooms are still in use in the present day Pueblo Indian villages and are known as kivas.

Usually the kiva roofs have collapsed, but in Square Tower House two kivas have the original roofs almost intact. Following the plan of these original roofs, three of the kivas in Spruce Tree House have been reroofed and upon descending the ladder into one of these the details of construction may be noted.