Mesa Verde National Park

“ View into Soda Canyon from the parapet of BALCONY HOUSE RUIN. The balcony in the foreground is more than 700 years old.
18 YOUR TRIP TO THE TOP OF THE “GREEN MESA”
LUNACHUKAI MTS. FROM PARK POINT (EL. 8,572) A VAST PANORAMA OPENS UP TO THE SOUTH AND WEST. THE LOVELY UNBROKEN FOREST-GREEN MESA-TOP, IN THE FOREGROUND, SUPPORTED AND PROTECTED THE CIVILIZED PEOPLE WHO ONCE LIVED HERE.
No trip to Mesa Verde National Park is complete without a visit to Park Point Lookout, 8,572-foot summit on the north rim. ”

“ There is deep meaning in the lovely unbroken green mesa-top forest you see spread out before you. Stop for a moment and picture how nature has reclaimed the fields of corn and beans and squash that lay hidden between piñon groves a thousand years ago—and how the stream of human life is not lost, but persists through the ages: in this case, in the pueblo dwellers who live today beyond the mesas and distant mountains of the southern horizon. ”

“ During the season visitors are accompanied from the park museum to the various ruins by competent ranger naturalists. These men, well trained in the social and biological sciences, make it their duty to help the visitor understand the natural and archeological features of the Mesa Verde. Because of the need of protecting the ruins and the somewhat devious trails by which they are reached, no one will be allowed to enter any ruin except Spruce Tree House unless accompanied by a ranger naturalist. ”

“ In this ruin is found unmistakable evidence of a secondary occupation which has been definitely identified as a Mesa Verde settlement.
It is thought that certain of the present-day Pueblo Indians are descendants, in part at least, of the cliff dwellers. Many of these Indian towns or pueblos still survive in the States of New Mexico and Arizona, the least modified of which are the villages of the Hopi, situated not far from the Grand Canyon National Park. ”

“ Reports of dens seen along the Mancos River are available for 1944, 1945, 1946, and 1947.
Microtus longicaudus mordax (Merriam)
Long-tailed Vole
Specimens examined.—Total, 36: North end Mesa Verde National Park, 7000 ft., 76233–76237; entrance to Mesa Verde National Park, 5123–5126 in Denver Museum; Prater Canyon, 7600 ft., 76238–76244; Upper Well, Prater Canyon, 7575 ft., 69441; Morfield Canyon, 7600 ft., 76245–76259, 76261–76263; west bank Mancos River, northeast side Mesa Verde National Park, 76260. ”

“ Visitors who view the Mesa Verde from the automobile roads gain but an inkling of the weird beauty and surprises that this area holds for the more adventurous. Horseback and hiking trips along the rim rocks and into the canyons lead to spectacular ruins not seen from any of the roads. ”

“ The earliest culture so far definitely identified as having permanent habitation on the Mesa Verde is the Basket Maker III or the Second Agricultural Basket Maker first found in Step House cave on the west side of the park below the debris of the latter cliff-house occupation. ”

“ The principal interpretative activity is here overlooking Spruce Tree Ruin, the third largest and, perhaps, the best preserved of the classical pueblo cliff dwellings.
5 PLAN YOUR SIGHTSEEING
In the Museum, at Park Headquarters, ranger-archaeologists are on duty to provide maps and guide leaflets, and to advise how to make the best use of your available time. You could spend a week in Mesa Verde’s spectacular environment, seeing something new every day and absorbing the fascinating story of 2,000 years of pre-history of the Stone Age people who built these cliff cities. ”

“ Of all Mesa Verde’s cliff dwellings, Balcony House Ruin is the most dramatically situated and offers the most exciting personal exploration experience. National Park Service archaeologist-guides meet visitors at the designated parking space to lead the 11⁄4-to-11⁄2-hour trip over a half-mile ledge trail, up the famous approach ladder, and through the ruin. ”

“ Not all areas within the Park are undisturbed. The rights of way of roads are kept clear, as are campgrounds and other facilities in the area of headquarters. Part of the Mancos Valley within the Park is privately owned and is still in agricultural use. Cattle from land belonging to the Ute Indians wander into the Park from the Mancos Canyon along the floor of the canyon above the mouth of Weber Canyon. ”

“ Three months’ time was devoted to the excavation in revealing the rectangular pueblo, 100 by 113 feet in size, now seen. The slow crumbling of the heavy dirt-covered roofs and the walls, together with the annual deposit of wind-blown sand from the San Juan country early each spring, gradually filled the rooms to the level of the standing walls, after which destructive elements and forces can little change the contour of any ruin.
The external features of Far View House are apparent as we approach its walls; mounting to the top of the highest wall we can best observe the general plan. ”

“ The pressure of outside tribes, or what may be called human environment, probably had much to do originally with the choice of caves for houses, and the magnificent caverns of the Mesa Verde naturally attracted men as favorable sites for their houses. The habit of huddling together in a limited space, necessitated by a life in the cliffs, possibly developed the composite form which still persists in the pueblo form of architecture. ”

“ Near Spruce-tree House, as elsewhere on the Mesa Verde, are found examples of those rock-etchings and other markings known as pictographs. Some of these represent human beings in various attitudes, and animals, as deer, mountain sheep, snakes, and other subjects not [52] yet determined. As seems to be true of the other rock-inscriptions just mentioned, some of those near Spruce-tree House are religious symbols, some are totems, while others are mere scribblings. ”

“ This valley is an important activity center—the MORFIELD CAMPGROUND-VILLAGE complex. Just off the entrance road are 500 individual and group campsites, a 1500 seat amphitheatre, horseback riding and a shopping center. Approximately 10 miles past Morfield the road reaches another important point of activity. The National Park Service has located there the NAVAJO HILL VISITOR CENTER. On the gentle summit above the visitor center is the FAR VIEW MOTOR LODGE. On the road one mile south is Far View Ruin, a large surface pueblo important to the interpretation of Mesa Verde. ”

“ No ruin in the Mesa Verde Park had suffered more from the ravages of "pot hunters" than Cliff Palace; indeed it had been much more mutilated than the other ruins in the park (pls. 1, 4, 5) . Parties of workmen had remained at the ruin all winter, and many specimens had been taken from it and sold. There was good evidence that the workmen had wrenched beams from the roofs and floors to use for firewood, so that not a single roof and but few rafters remained in place. However, no doubt many of the beams had been removed, possibly by cliff-dwellers, long before white men first visited the place. ”

“ Sun Temple was not built by an alien people, but by the cliff dwellers as a specialized building mainly for religious purposes, and, so far as known, is the first of its type recognized in the Mesa Verde area. ”

“ Species that are restricted to the desert and that occur in Montezuma County, Colorado, but that are not known from the Mesa Verde are Ammospermophilus leucurus, Perognathus flavus, and Onychomys leucogaster.
Species known to have changed in numbers in the past 50 years are the mule deer that has increased, and the prairie dog that has decreased. Possibly beaver have increased along the Mancos River. The muskrat, mink, beaver, and raccoon usually occur only along the Mancos River, as there is no other permanent surface water in the Park. ”

“ Individual views have ranged from a desire to exterminate all the prairie dogs to a desire to leave them undisturbed by man.
In review: The early history of prairie dogs on the Mesa Verde is not well documented but reports are available of the absence of prairie dogs before settlement by white men, and of introductions of prairie dogs. Other reports indicate that prairie dogs have been observed far from established colonies; therefore natural invasion may account for the establishment of prairie dogs on the Mesa. ”

“ Outstanding among the permanent achievements of this constructive decade were the development of the Ranger Guide Service made up for the most part of trained young archaeologists, under the direction of a permanent naturalist-archaeologist; the building and equipment of a museum from funds contributed by public subscription; the establishment of evening campfire lectures, and demonstrations by the Navajos of their tribal chants and dances—activities that today form the pattern of the inspiring interpretive program conducted here by the National Park Service. ”

“ It was believed to be a pueblo or communal habitation. Excavation of this mound brought into view one of the most instructive buildings in the park.
Sun Temple is a type of ruin hitherto unknown in the park. The building excavated shows the best masonry and is the most mysterious form yet discovered in a region rich in so many prehistoric remains. Although at first there was some doubt as to the use of this building, it was early recognized that it was not constructed for habitation, and it is now believed that it was intended for the performance of rites and ceremonies ”

“ If you are interested in the work of the National Park Service, and in the cause of conservation in general, you can give active expression of this interest, and lend support by alining yourself with one of the numerous conservation organizations which act as spokesman for those who wish our scenic and historic heritage to be kept unimpaired “for the enjoyment of future generations.” ”

“ Forty-one of these species are represented by specimens from the Park. Thirteen additional species in the list have been seen in the Park.
On the Grand Mesa, which is more elevated than, and some 110 miles north of, the Mesa Verde (see Figure 1) , 55 per cent of the species of mammals have boreal affinities and the other 45 per cent are wide-spread species (Anderson, 1959:414) . Boreal species from the Mesa Verde are Sorex vagrans, Sylvilagus nuttallii, Spermophilus lateralis, Marmota flaviventris, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, Microtus montanus, and Microtus longicaudus. ”

“ Activity can be done at any cliff dwelling.
Gentle Rain: Visit a cliff dwelling, such as Spruce Tree House, to see many of the same things I did when I lived here. Remember to be a good steward by not touching, climbing, or leaning on the walls.
Directions—Look for the items below and place an “X” over the ones you find. Find four in a row across or diagonally.
11 A-mazing Migration
Activity can be done anywhere.
Kathy: For some time, it was thought that Gentle Rain’s family and the rest of the Ancestral Pueblo people simply vanished from Mesa Verde. ”

“ In the thirteenth century, harassed by nomadic tribes and beset by years of drouth, village dwelling Indians left their great cliff dwellings in the myriad canyons of the Mesa Verde, and thus ended a period of 1300 years of occupancy. ”