Homer F. Hastings

“ A few have open courts in which the people could gather for social or ceremonial purposes. None of the pueblos in the valley contain kivas, the ceremonial chambers so common in northeastern Arizona and adjoining districts of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Conversely, ball courts are found in the Verde Valley and around Flagstaff but not in other Pueblo areas.
Two miles east of Clarkdale, Ariz., is Tuzigoot National Monument—an Indian pueblo of more than 100 rooms. Tuzigoot was occupied by Indians similar to those of Montezuma Castle, but they lived under somewhat different circumstances. ”

“ In this region, their needs were filled by a good water supply, bottomlands for farming, wild berries and edible shrubs, game for meat, and materials for buildings, pottery, and tools.
In addition, they had one thing which most Indians in Arizona had to travel great distances to obtain—a large deposit of salt. This they mined a few miles southwest of present-day Camp Verde where their collapsed tunnels can be traced even today. Occasionally the handle of a stone pick may still be seen projecting from a collapsed tunnel. ”

“ These people had no pottery, and probably had no permanent houses or farms. The only objects recovered from their campsites have been their crude stone tools. One such site was discovered and investigated a short distance north of Montezuma Castle National Monument in 1949.
Shortly after A. D. 600, the Verde Valley attracted another group of people. They were farmers who came from the south, near the vicinity of modern Phoenix. We call these people of southern Arizona, who were the first known permanent settlers in the Verde Valley, the “Hohokam.” ”

“ Evidently many of these emigrants went north to the plateau region east of present-day Flagstaff, to plant in the moisture-conserving ash-fall area created by the eruption of Sunset Crater in 1064. Shortly after these Hohokam departed, many of the Sinagua moved down from the hills into the middle of the Verde Valley. This occurred about 1125. They lived much as they had before, but with two important changes: they 8 adopted the Hohokam idea of irrigation, and they began building surface houses of rock and mud—an idea acquired from still another group, the Pueblo Indians, farther north. ”

“ Despite the importance of trade, which was primarily for luxury items, the Sinagua Indians were basically farmers and depended mainly on food they raised themselves. In Montezuma Castle, American pioneers found corncobs in abundance and sometimes the remains of beans and squash. There were also numerous corn-grinding stones or metates, made from basaltic boulders carried into the area by flood waters in Beaver Creek. ”

“ Overlooking the point where the upper and lower trails join are 2 smoke-blackened cave rooms which are too small to be dwellings. Perhaps these held sentries to guard the trails at night.
Geologists believe the cliff has changed but little since the Indian occupation. If so, the Indians must have used ladders to make numerous trips to their dwellings each day. In addition, ladders had to be employed in the building to go from one floor to another. No original Indian ladders are known to have been found at Montezuma Castle. ”

“ The limestone that had been carried in and deposited on the lake bottom then became the new ground surface.
Salts left by the evaporation of water were also deposited on the lake bottom. A deposit of this type can now be seen near Camp Verde. Although the formation is principally sodium carbonate, sodium chloride (common table salt) and sodium sulphate are also found. For many centuries early Indians mined salt deposits in this locality and a few years ago a deposit of sodium sulphate near Camp Verde was worked commercially. ”

“ Sinagua Pueblo Life
The pre-Columbian Indians of the Southwest (northern Mexico to southern Utah and Colorado; eastern New Mexico to western Arizona) 12 were, in general, settled and apparently peaceful farming peoples living in villages. The agricultural staples—corn, squash, and beans—were supplemented by gathering wild plants and hunting game. The main hunting weapon was the bow and arrow. Weapons and tools were made of various kinds of stone, animal bones, and wood. Pottery and basketry were used for utensils or containers. ”

“ The modern Hopi have legends of a people coming up from the south to join them. They say that these people were great warriors and that they had no priests or ceremonies. Since the Sinagua had no underground ceremonial chamber, or kiva, such as 11 that of the Hopi, and since we lack evidence of ceremonialism among the Sinagua, these legends could well apply to them. ”

“ These Sinagua Indians rarely decorated their pottery, and judging by the quantity of painted pieces recovered from their sites, they engaged in lively trade for the wares of their northeastern neighbors. ”

“ Summer—Heat and occasional thunderstorms to match the drama of the survival of the fittest—insects feeding on flowers and plants; birds and lizards feeding on insects; rodents feeding on seeds and eggs; snakes feeding on rodents; hawks and owls feeding on snakes and rodents; the scavenger of the desert, the vulture, cleaning up wherever he finds his meal; and the skunk continually knocking over the garbage pail.
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How to Reach the Monument
Montezuma Castle is 5 miles north of Camp Verde, 60 miles south of Flagstaff, and 65 miles east of Prescott. ”

“ The next settlement down the creek west of the Castle was once a 6-story building with perhaps 40 rooms. This was not a cliff dwelling, but a structure built against the base of the cliff. The roofs were burned and all the walls collapsed, leaving only a great heap of rubble. Evidently part of the building was abandoned long before it burned, 26 for archeologists found that charred roof timbers had fallen on some floors already covered with drifted sand and dust. ”

“ The walls were covered with mud plaster, both inside and out. Most of this has weathered away on the outside, but the plaster is well-preserved inside. In some places, finger marks of the original builders may still be seen.
Rooms have an average of about 100 square feet of floor space. The smallest room is in the second story with 37.5 square feet of floor space, and the largest is in the fifth story with 240 square feet.
What is now the fifth story is in the deepest part of the cave and apparently was the first part of the Castle to be constructed. ”

“ The Castle was constructed by people who had no metal tools of any kind. Their picks were pointed stones about as long as an adult’s hand, and their stone axes were about the same size. A shallow groove was ground three-fourths of the way around these implements ”

“ This was made large enough for the 30 body to lay at full length inside, and to accommodate funeral offerings, usually including pottery vessels. The undercut portion was closed with 3 or 4 large slabs of limestone, which were sealed with mud to prevent any dirt from entering. Then the pit was filled with dirt to complete the burial. Nowhere else in the Southwest are undercut graves quite like these found.
Modern irrigation ditch flows beside lime-coated bank of ancient irrigation ditch. ”