Southwest Parks and Monuments Association

“ The cliff dwelling overlooks the valley where Salado farms were tilled—1,000 feet below the village here, and 2 to 5 miles away. Ancient irrigation canals which watered Salado corn could still be seen until Roosevelt Lake flooded the valley after 1911. To walk 5 miles or more to tend a crop was not unusual for a Pueblo farmer. Well into this century Hopi Indians, distant modern relatives of the ancient Salado, ran as far as 20 miles to their cornfields. ”

“ With loss of the grasses, erosion has accelerated, springs have dried up, and formerly sandy and smooth canyon floors (once suitable for small-scale farming) have eroded to boulder-strewn wastes. In less than a century we have made drastic changes in the desert, changes whose consequences we are only beginning to see.
7 SOTOL. Mats, sandals, coarse ropes and other household items can be made of the fibers in the narrow leaves of this plant. Young flower stalks of sotol (SO-tall) are edible when roasted; many deep stone-lined roasting pits are found throughout this area. ”

“ We do not know who—or 11 what—drove the Salado to the high places, but this village and others like it seem to have been built for defense. Little evidence of warfare has been found.
Once four or five rooms were here in the front of the cave; erosion has destroyed all but the wall stubs you see on the right. ”

“ The Gila woodpecker is responsible for many of the holes you see riddling mature saguaros; the bird will excavate a half-dozen or more potential nests every year. Other birds use the woodpecker holes, particularly the elf owl, a six-inch midget which can live only where the saguaro and the woodpecker provide it with a home. ”

“ Dramatic geometric designs in black, white and red were characteristic of Salado pottery.
27 ORIGINAL CLAY FLOOR. All floors in the village were once smooth, made of adobe clay like this one, but heavy traffic over recent years has destroyed all but this one remnant. Please help us preserve this floor by staying out of the room.
Cross-Section of a floor.
Showing: outer wall; rock; clay floor; shallow firepit; bedrock
At the back of the room the clay floor joins natural bedrock of the cave. ”