Located in an alcove on the east wall of Cliff Canyon in Mesa Verde National Park, Cliff Palace is a 150-room cliff dwelling built by Ancestral Pueblo people in the 1200s. Diné (Navajo), Nuche (Ute), Apache, and Pueblo people knew of the…

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) is an international women’s organization dedicated to community improvement and enhancing the lives of others. In 1906 the group’s Colorado chapter helped establish Mesa Verde National Park, its most…

Long House is the second-largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. Built by Ancestral Puebloans in the 1200s, the 150-room dwelling was rediscovered by the Wetherill brothers and Charles Mason in early 1890. In the late 1950s and early 1960s,…

Montezuma County, famous for the ancient Native American ruins at Mesa Verde, is the  southwesternmost county in Colorado. The county covers 2,040 square miles of the Colorado Plateau, and has the distinction of bordering Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona…

Morefield Mound sits in the middle of the wide valley at the bottom of Morefield Canyon in Mesa Verde National Park. It served as a water supply for ancient Native Americans a thousand years ago, making it one of the earliest known domestic water-supply…

The Pueblo of Santa Ana is one of the seven Keres-speaking Pueblos that currently inhabit the state of New Mexico. The homes of the current inhabitants’ ancestors can be found in what is now Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado…

Richard Wetherill (1858–1910) was a nineteenth-century rancher and explorer who lived in southwest Colorado. Although he is often credited with "discovering" some of the most significant Ancestral Pueblo archaeological sites…

Colorado is home to a rich variety of prehistoric and historic art carved on cliff sides and boulders. Most rock art is found in river basins. The mountain areas that cut a wide vertical swath through the state are relatively devoid of rock art. There…

Sarah Platt Decker (1855–1912) was a beloved leader of women, known nationwide for her advocacy of women’s suffrage and social reform. Her influence was instrumental in the 1893 vote that gave Colorado women equal suffrage. She later became the founder…

Spruce Tree House is the third-largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park, and the first seen by most visitors because of its location near park headquarters. Built by the Ancestral Pueblo in the 1200s, Euro-Americans came to know&nbsp…

Tree-ring dating is formally known as “dendrochronology” (literally, the study of tree time). It is the science of assigning calendar-year dates to the growth rings of trees, and Colorado figures prominently in its development and application in…