%1 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/ en Origins of Mesa Verde National Park http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/origins-mesa-verde-national-park <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Origins of Mesa Verde National Park</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-10-28T13:00:41-06:00" title="Thursday, October 28, 2021 - 13:00" class="datetime">Thu, 10/28/2021 - 13:00</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/origins-mesa-verde-national-park" data-a2a-title="Origins of Mesa Verde National Park"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Forigins-mesa-verde-national-park&amp;title=Origins%20of%20Mesa%20Verde%20National%20Park"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/mesa-verde-national-park"><strong>Mesa Verde National Park</strong></a> was established in 1906 as the country’s ninth national park. The site was visited and considered sacred by multiple Indigenous nations before it began attracting interest from white Americans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While male scientists and treasure hunters sought to extract artifacts and knowledge from the site, two Colorado women—Virginia Donaghe McClurg and Lucy Peabody—sought to preserve it. Their campaign marshaled the conservationist spirit that gripped many white Americans at the time, including President Theodore Roosevelt, and culminated in Mesa Verde’s designation as a national park.</p> <p>Today, Mesa Verde National Park hosts more than 500,000 visitors per year and remains a sacred and important place for multiple Indigenous nations, especially the Pueblo people of New Mexico. On account of the park’s history as a colonized landscape, the story of how two white women spearheaded Mesa Verde’s creation raises important questions about what it means to “preserve” a site, who should do the preserving, and for whom these sites are preserved.</p> <h2>Colonization and Preservation</h2> <p>As with many other national parks, the establishment of Mesa Verde National Park was rooted in the process of <strong>settler-colonialism</strong> unfolding across the western United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As they violently displaced Indigenous nations and built cities, farms, mines, and railroads, white Americans found beauty in certain places and sought to protect them from industry and development.</p> <p>By the late nineteenth century, the collection of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cliff-dwelling"><strong>cliff dwellings</strong></a>, <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/kivas"><strong>kivas</strong></a>, and other structures built by the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ancestral-puebloans-four-corners-region"><strong>Ancestral Pueblo</strong></a> people at Mesa Verde began to attract interest from white Americans. Located in southwest Colorado, the site was then on land belonging to the Nuche (<strong>Ute</strong> people) and was still important to the <strong>Navajo</strong> and Pueblo people. However, white scientists and explorers repeatedly trespassed and took artifacts, either for study or sale. Imbued with notions of white supremacy, the young discipline of archaeology often blurred the lines between investigation and plunder.</p> <h2>Virginia McClurg and Lucy Peabody</h2> <p>Neither a scientist nor a treasure hunter, Virginia McClurg saw the site differently, maintaining that its value came from what was there instead of what could be taken from it. The first of the two women to visit the cliff dwellings, she became the site’s earliest white champion. She was the daughter of prosperous easterners, and her life mirrored that of many female reformers of the late nineteenth century who were both ambitious and willing to join various organizations in search of change. Educated in Virginia, McClurg established herself as a travel writer while still in her twenties and remained unmarried until she was in her thirties. Poor health brought her west to Colorado in 1879, where she attended classes at <strong>Colorado College</strong>, founded a private school, and reported intermittently for newspapers. In 1889 she married <strong>Gilbert McClurg</strong>, settled in Colorado, and eventually gave birth to a son.</p> <p>McClurg’s interest in the cliff dwellings began in 1882, when the <em>New York Daily Graphic</em> asked her to visit Mesa Verde to investigate Colorado’s “lost” cities and buried homes. Fascinated by the structures, McClurg outfitted her own expedition to the cliff dwellings in 1886 to gather scientific evidence that might justify the site’s protection.</p> <p>McClurg’s contemporaries included white men such as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/richard-wetherill"><strong>Richard Wetherill</strong></a>, a rancher who stumbled upon Mesa Verde’s cliff dwellings in 1888, and <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gustaf-nordenski%C3%B6ld-and-mesa-verde-region"><strong>Gustaf Nordenskiöld</strong></a>, a Swedish scientist who studied the site in the 1890s. Both men extracted artifacts from the site, and Nordenskiöld was briefly arrested for doing so. Nordenskiöld was actually interested in documenting Ancestral Pueblo culture, but many others simply plundered the site, leading McClurg to denounce “many instances of thoughtless vandalism.” McClurg was especially critical of Wetherill, whom she later referred to as a farmer who “casts away the walls from a prehistoric pueblo to line his irrigating ditch.” In contrast, she saw Mesa Verde as an area that needed more protection, in addition to study.</p> <p>After McClurg published sketches of her trip, she became a minor celebrity. In 1893 she was the only woman invited to speak in the Anthropological Building at the Chicago World’s Fair. Seven years later, she established the Colorado Cliff Dwellings Association (CCDA), a women’s group modeled after the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the country’s first historic preservation organization. McClurg became regent of the CCDA, with Lucy Peabody as vice regent. Peabody was an influential <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> retiree who had served as secretarial assistant in the Bureau of American Ethnology before her marriage. Despite its intentions, the CCDA had limited interactions with the Indigenous people who still considered Mesa Verde to be the home of their ancestors.</p> <p>McClurg’s first goal was for the CCDA to obtain legal rights to Mesa Verde via a land lease from the <strong>Weeminuche Ute</strong>. In 1899 she traveled to the<strong> Southern Ute Indian Reservation </strong>in <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/montezuma-county"><strong>Montezuma County</strong></a> to convince Ute leader <strong>Ignacio</strong> and his son Acowitz to lease the cliff dwellings to her. She offered him $300 a year for thirty years with $300 up front. Chief Ignacio was reluctant and demanded $9,000 on the spot. Unable to oblige, McClurg went home empty-handed. A year later, she sent Alice Bishop to Navajo Springs to try again. Bishop was successful, but US secretary of the interior Ethan Hitchcock declared the agreement illegal because private citizens did not have the authority to negotiate a treaty with tribes. The following year, the CCDA submitted the lease to the Department of the Interior a second time, only to have it rejected once again. In response, the CCDA lobbied elected officials. McClurg met with Colorado senators <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/henry-teller"><strong>Henry Teller</strong></a> and <strong>Edward Wolcott</strong> to discuss political strategies and appealed directly to President Theodore Roosevelt. McClurg wrote the president a romantic sonnet in which she described the Ancestral Puebloans as a “peaceful race” who “toiled in fields with patient industry.”</p> <p>Meanwhile, Lucy Peabody traveled to Washington, DC, to investigate the possibility of establishing a national park at the site despite McClurg’s wish that Mesa Verde become a state park. While there, Peabody secured a bill that left the CCDA out of the park’s new administration, which created a rift between McClurg and Peabody. In her 1904 annual address to the CCDA, McClurg said, “there are members of the association who are in favor of [a national park]—others a state or Association’s control . . . each may work in the field which suits her best—and time will show which plan will be crowned with success.” All of these plans failed to recognize Indigenous sovereignty over the site. In the meantime, the women of the CCDA worked hard to publicize and further colonize the site. By 1903 the CCDA created the first accurate map of the cliff dwellings, built a wagon road down the <strong>Mancos Canyon</strong>, and constructed a shelter at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/spruce-tree-house"><strong>Spruce Tree House</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> <p>By 1905 the CCDA had convinced both the public and Congress that a national park should be established at Mesa Verde. That year, Colorado representative <strong>Herschel Hogg</strong> submitted the first Mesa Verde National Park bill to survive a congressional committee. The following year, Colorado senator <strong>Thomas Patterson</strong> submitted a bill to the Senate. McClurg, though she preferred a state park, reluctantly gave her blessing.</p> <h2>Conflict Over Management</h2> <p>That is, until February 1906, when McClurg suddenly withdrew her support for the new park. Contemporaries and historians alike have struggled to understand her sudden change of heart. Newspapers of the period derided her. The papers accused McClurg of being obsessed with her own celebrity. On February 23, 1906, for example, <strong><em>The</em></strong><em> <strong>Denver Post</strong> </em>scolded McClurg and told her to “put all that tremendous energy of yours into the fight to get Uncle Sam to take up this wonderful bit of ancient, ancient history and preserve it for the wonder and pilgriming of the whole world.” A day later, the <em>Post</em> published a political cartoon that illustrated the paper’s belief that federal officials—embodied by the elderly male figure of Uncle Sam—would better care for the site. In the cartoon, a young woman, identified as Miss Colorado, happily and dutifully surrenders a model of the cliff dwellings to Uncle Sam, saying, “They’ll be safer in your care, Uncle!”</p> <p>McClurg worried that federal intervention would damage the site—a concern that was not without merit. In 1881 the US Army sent Captain Moses Harris to Yellowstone to suppress illegal activities at the park. Since Harris’s arrival, residents of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho had complained about the army’s management of the park. McClurg was reticent to see the cliff dwellings managed by the army; rather, she hoped for Mesa Verde to be legally protected and financially supported by either the state or federal government while remaining under the direction of the clubwomen. She envisioned a new kind of partnership between government organizations and women’s clubs, one that provided women with an official role in state and federal bureaucracies, and thus famously declared, “Let [Mesa Verde] be a woman’s park.”</p> <p>The <em>Post </em>insisted that no private individuals, especially women, were fit to manage the site. It told readers to “think of turning the Yosemite over to the custodianship of any band of the best meaning and the cleverest women, or men, either, in the world! Women die and women get married and lose interest in political life . . . so do men. The government of the United States lives!” Undeterred, McClurg continued to denounce the Hogg Bill, and the CCDA was divided, with one faction of clubwomen supporting McClurg and the other supporting Peabody.</p> <p>In an apparent effort to sway public opinion toward her vision, McClurg concocted a conspiracy theory. She argued that the Hogg Bill was a thinly disguised congressional plot, a furtive means by which to acquire more Indigenous land. McClurg argued that the CCDA would never attempt something so heartless. She declared, “there has never been any plan to park Mesa Verde, which did not include the Indians remaining on their land.” There was, however, no truth to McClurg’s accusations, and despite her efforts, Congress passed Hogg’s bill in 1906 with widespread public approval. The bill came the same year as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/antiquities-act"><strong>Antiquities Act</strong></a>, designed to protect sites of archaeological interest from unscientific plundering and inspired by the increased publicity of places like Mesa Verde.</p> <h2>Legacy</h2> <p>The CCDA did not officially disband until McClurg’s death in 1931. At that point, Mesa Verde was managed by the <strong>National Park Service (NPS)</strong>. Peabody, not McClurg, was lauded as the heroine who “founded” Mesa Verde National Park—despite the fact that the dwellings had been created and maintained by generations of Indigenous people. In 1906 the American Anthropology Association thanked Peabody for her role in the preservation of the great monuments of ancient culture without mentioning McClurg.</p> <p>Still, despite the best intentions of McClurg and the CCDA, the entire enterprise of creating the park amounted to a colonial project that placed an Indigenous site under the control of the US government. Today, Indigenous scholars argue that the national park system is itself a product of the dispossession and abuse of Indigenous peoples and cultures that occurred throughout Colorado and the American West in the nineteenth century. In this context, although it can still be seen as a monumental achievement, the two women’s work to create Mesa Verde National Park is more complicated and controversial than often considered.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/swanson-mary" hreflang="und">Swanson, Mary</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/founding-mesa-verde-national-park" hreflang="en">founding of mesa verde national park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/virginia-mcclurg" hreflang="en">virginia mcclurg</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/lucy-peabody" hreflang="en">lucy peabody</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/montezuma-county" hreflang="en">montezuma county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ignacio" hreflang="en">Ignacio</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ancestral-pueblo" hreflang="en">Ancestral Pueblo</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/richard-wetherill" hreflang="en">Richard Wetherill</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gustaf-nordenskiold" hreflang="en">Gustaf Nordenskiold</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/settler-colonialism" hreflang="en">settler colonialism</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/theodore-roosevelt" hreflang="en">theodore roosevelt</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/antiquities-act" hreflang="en">antiquities act</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/spruce-tree-house" hreflang="en">spruce tree house</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/four-corners" hreflang="en">four corners</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/pueblo" hreflang="en">pueblo</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/navajo" hreflang="en">navajo</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>“Contending Factions in Cliff Dwellings Society: Association May be Disrupted as a Result of Differences Between Mrs. McClurg and Mrs. Peabody Over Method of Preserving Mesa Verde Ruins,” <em>Rocky Mountain Daily News</em>, February 13, 1906.</p> <p>Editorial Cartoon, <em>The </em><em>Denver Post</em>, February 24, 1906.</p> <p>“Make It a National Park,” <em>The </em><em>Denver Post</em>, February 23, 1906.</p> <p>Mrs. Gilbert McClurg, “Two Annual Addresses by the Regent of the Colorado Cliff Dwellings Association,” Denver, 1904, Virginia McClurg Collection, Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum, Colorado Springs.</p> <p>“Regents Slurs on Hard Work: Regent of Colorado Cliff Dwellings Association Sharply Replies to Editorial Attack,” <em>Rocky Mountain News</em>, March 11, 1906.</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Krista Langlois, “<a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/49.17/features-archaeology-indigenous-knowledge-untangles-the-mystery-of-mesa-verde">Indigenous Knowledge Helps Untangle the Mystery of Mesa Verde</a>,” <em>High Country News</em>, October 2, 2017.</p> <p>Mesa Verde Museum Association, <em>Mesa Verde National Park: The First 100 Years</em> (Golden, CO: Fulcrum, 2006).</p> <p><a href="https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm">Mesa Verde National Park</a>.</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Thu, 28 Oct 2021 19:00:41 +0000 yongli 3629 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Spruce Tree House http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/spruce-tree-house <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Spruce Tree House</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME 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<!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/spruce-tree-house-0"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Spruce-Tree-House_May-2014-%28002%29_1.jpg?itok=MtKDKc0c" width="1000" height="750" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/spruce-tree-house-0" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Spruce Tree House</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Spruce Tree House is the third largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. Located near park headquarters, it received heavy visitation before rock falls forced its closure in 2015.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-05-05T10:51:05-06:00" title="Friday, May 5, 2017 - 10:51" class="datetime">Fri, 05/05/2017 - 10:51</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/spruce-tree-house" data-a2a-title="Spruce Tree House"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fspruce-tree-house&amp;title=Spruce%20Tree%20House"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Spruce Tree House is the third-largest <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cliff-dwelling"><strong>cliff dwelling</strong></a> in <a href="/article/mesa-verde-national-park">Mesa Verde National Park</a>, and the first seen by most visitors because of its location near park headquarters. Built by the&nbsp;<strong><a href="/article/ancestral-puebloans-four-corners-region">Ancestral Pueblo</a></strong>&nbsp;in the 1200s, Euro-Americans came to know&nbsp;the 114-room dwelling through&nbsp;rancher <strong><a href="/article/richard-wetherill">Richard Wetherill</a></strong> and Charles Mason in December 1888. Along with the rest of Mesa Verde, Spruce Tree House was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site in 1978.</p> <h2>Construction and Use</h2> <p>Spruce Tree House is on the northeast wall of Spruce Tree Canyon, just across from the <strong><a href="/article/mesa-verde-national-park-administrative-district">Mesa Verde Administrative District</a> </strong>on Chapin Mesa. Like the other cliff dwellings in the area, Spruce Tree House was built during the Pueblo III period (1150–1300 CE) of the Ancestral Pueblo&nbsp;tradition, when Mesa Verde residents began to move from mesa tops to cliff alcoves, perhaps for greater protection. It probably housed about 100 people at any given time.</p> <p><a href="/image/spruce-tree-house-interior"><img alt="Spruce Tree House Interior" src="/sites/default/files/Spruce_Tree_House_Media%203.jpg" style="float:right; height:320px; margin:15px; width:480px" /></a>Spruce Tree House was built in pieces between about 1200 and 1280, with each family constructing its own <strong><a href="/article/kivas">kiva</a></strong> and room suite, and grew to include 114 rooms and eight kivas. Kivas—circular areas excavated into the ground—were the central residential structures at sites such as Spruce Tree House. They could be used for residences and ritual gatherings, and they could also be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Suites of small rooms arranged around each kiva made up a courtyard complex shared by an extended family or clan. Front rooms were used for sleeping, back rooms for storage. As with nearby <strong><a href="/article/cliff-palace">Cliff Palace</a></strong>, Spruce Tree House was separated into two sections, suggesting a social organization based on two distinct groups. An imposing three-story central tower at the dwelling may have served to unify the two groups.</p> <p>Like the rest of the Mesa Verde region, Spruce Tree House was evacuated in the final decades of the 1200s, when the Ancestral Pueblo&nbsp;migrated to the south and southwest. Although the exact reasons for the migration remain unknown, there is evidence that colder and drier weather, combined with increased conflict in the region, made it harder for residents to survive.</p> <h2>"Rediscovery"</h2> <p><a href="/image/spruce-tree-house-excavation"><img alt="Spruce Tree House Before Excavation" src="/sites/default/files/Spruce-Tree-Media-2.jpg" style="float:left; height:372px; margin:15px; width:480px" /></a>Local Indigenous people knew about sites like Spruce Tree House for generations before&nbsp;rancher Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law, Charles Mason, found such sites in December 1888. The men were searching for cattle with their <strong><a href="/search/google/ute">Ute</a></strong> guide, Acowitz, when they first saw Cliff Palace. They discovered Spruce Tree House either later that day or the next day, naming it for what they believed to be a spruce tree growing in the ruins (it was a Douglas fir). Wetherill spent most of the winter digging for artifacts in Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House; he later sold his collection to the Colorado Historical Society (now <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/history-colorado-colorado-historical-society"><strong>History Colorado</strong></a>).</p> <p>In 1891 Wetherill, his brothers, and Mason showed Mesa Verde to the visiting Swedish scholar <strong><a href="/article/gustaf-nordenski%C3%B6ld-and-mesa-verde-region">Gustaf Nordenskiöld</a></strong>, who spent the summer excavating nearly two dozen cliff dwellings in the area, including Spruce Tree House. His book <em>The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde</em> (1893) played a crucial role in stimulating interest in the area’s archaeology. The&nbsp;artifacts he plundered during his excavations were long housed at the National Museum of Finland, but in 2019 the Finnish government agreed to return many of them—including some human remains and funerary objects—to native tribes in the region.</p> <p>The decay of the cliff dwellings accelerated rapidly after their rediscovery, as they started to receive increased visitation from pothunters, amateur archaeologists, and tourists. In response, a movement developed in the 1890s and early 1900s to make Mesa Verde a national park and to pass the <strong><a href="/article/antiquities-act">Antiquities Act</a></strong> (1906) to prevent looting and vandalism at prehistoric sites on public land.</p> <h2>Early Archaeological Work</h2> <p>In 1906 the Mesa Verde area, including Spruce Tree&nbsp;House, became a national park. Most of the structures in the park were still filled with debris and in danger of collapsing, so the Department of the Interior asked&nbsp;<strong>Jesse Walter Fewkes</strong>&nbsp;of the Bureau of American Ethnology to perform excavation, preservation, and repair work at the park. From 1908 to 1922, Fewkes excavated and stabilized a number of cliff dwellings.</p> <p>In 1908 Fewkes started his work at Spruce Tree House because of its easy accessibility, proximity to where visitors camped, and better state of preservation compared to most other ruins in the park. To prepare the dwelling for visitors, Fewkes and his team cleared debris from the interior, repaired and stabilized the structure’s walls, improved drainage away from the site, and constructed trails for visitor access. Despite heavy looting over the previous two decades, they also found more than 500 artifacts.</p> <h2>Rock Stabilization</h2> <p><a href="/image/spruce-tree-house-and-alcove"><img alt="Spruce Tree House and Alcove" src="/sites/default/files/Spruce_Tree_House_Media4.jpg" style="float:right; height:320px; margin:15px; width:480px" /></a>Since Fewkes’s time, most work at the park has focused on preservation. Other than a trash mound excavation funded by John D. Rockefeller Jr. and carried out by park superintendent <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jesse-nusbaum"><strong>Jesse Nusbaum</strong></a> in 1923–24, nearly all work at Spruce Tree House has been part of an ongoing effort to stabilize the rock alcove in which the dwelling was built.</p> <p>The same forces that formed Spruce Tree Cave continue to act, leading to large rockfalls as the arch above Spruce Tree House grows. In 1923 a fifty-foot slab fell from the roof of Spruce Tree Cave, but luckily it did little damage to the dwelling. In 1940 workers removed plants and rock debris from the main crack in the ledge above Spruce Tree House and applied a protective covering to try to keep water from widening it. A rockfall in 1960 led to the removal of the earlier protective covering, the application of cement grout in the crack, and the installation of a copper lip to divert drainage away from the ledge. Those precautions could not prevent three major rockfalls in the summer of 1964. The park closed the north end of the dwelling and kept visitors thirty feet away for safety until stabilization work was completed.</p> <p>Stability at Spruce Tree House became a major concern again in 2015, when a rockfall led the dwelling to be closed to the public. A climbing team investigated the ledge above the dwelling and removed sixty cubic feet of rock. During their work, the team saw evidence that more rockfalls were likely to occur, so the park decided to keep Spruce Tree House closed until a full assessment and stabilization can be completed. The park plans to use Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) to map the crack and prepare a stabilization plan. In the meantime, visitors can still view the dwelling from overlooks near park headquarters.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mesa-verde-national-park" hreflang="en">Mesa Verde National Park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gustaf-nordenskiold" hreflang="en">Gustaf Nordenskiold</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jesse-walter-fewkes" hreflang="en">Jesse Walter Fewkes</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ancestral-pueblo-architecture" hreflang="en">Ancestral Pueblo architecture</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/ancestral-puebloan-culture" hreflang="en">Ancestral Puebloan culture</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/historic-houses" hreflang="en">historic houses</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/richard-wetherill" hreflang="en">Richard Wetherill</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>William M. Ferguson, <em>The Anasazi of Mesa Verde and the Four Corners</em> (Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1996).</p> <p><span style="color: rgb(59, 59, 59); font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.02px;">Kevin Simpson,&nbsp;</span><a class="ext" href="https://coloradosun.com/2019/10/10/mesa-verde-remains-nordenskiold/" style="color: rgb(0, 144, 235); font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.02px;" title=" (external link)">"More Than a Century Ago, a European Visitor Took More Than 600 Native American Remains and Artifacts From Colorado's Mesa Verde,"</a><span style="color: rgb(59, 59, 59); font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.02px;">&nbsp;</span><em style="color: rgb(59, 59, 59); font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.02px;">Colorado Sun</em><span style="color: rgb(59, 59, 59); font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.02px;">, October 10, 2019.</span></p> <p><a href="https://www.nps.gov/meve/planyourvisit/sth_closure.htm">“Spruce Tree House Closure,”</a> Mesa Verde National Park.</p> <p>Ricardo Torres-Reyes, <em>Mesa Verde National Park: An Administrative History, 1906–1970</em> (Washington, DC: National Park Service, 1970).</p> <p>Barbara Wyatt, “Mesa Verde National Park Archeological District,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form (December 8, 1976).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Jesse Walter Fewkes, <em>Antiquities of the Mesa Verde National Park: Spruce-Tree House</em>, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 41 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1909).</p> <p>Florence C. Lister, <em>Troweling through Time: The First Century of Mesa Verdean Archaeology</em> (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2004).</p> <p>David Grant Noble, ed., <em>The Mesa Verde World: Explorations in Ancestral Pueblo Archaeology</em> (Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press, 2006).</p> <p>Duane A. Smith, <em>Mesa Verde National Park: Shadows of the Centuries</em> (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1988).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-4th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-4th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-4th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-4th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-4th-grade"><p>Spruce Tree House is a <strong>cliff dwelling</strong> in <strong>Mesa Verde National Park. </strong>It is located near the park headquarters. It was built by <strong>Ancestral Puebloans </strong>in the 1200s. In 1888 local ranchers rediscovered the 114-room dwelling. Along with the rest of Mesa Verde, Spruce Tree House was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978.</p> <h2>Construction and Use</h2> <p>Spruce Tree House is on a cliff wall in Spruce Tree Canyon, across from the Mesa Verde Park Headquarters. Mesa Verde residents had lived on the open flat mesa tops in the area. They later moved their homes to the cliffs for greater protection.</p> <p>Spruce Tree House was built between about 1200 and 1280. About 100 people lived in the dwelling. Each family built their own <strong>kiva</strong> (circular areas dug into the ground) and rooms. Spruce Tree House included 114 rooms and eight kivas. The kivas were the main living spaces. They were used as homes and rituals. They could also be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Suites of small rooms were arranged around each kiva. These made a courtyard that was shared by an extended family or clan. Front rooms were used for sleeping and the back rooms were used for storage. As with nearby <strong>Cliff Palace</strong>, Spruce Tree House was separated into two sections. There may have been two distinct groups that lived there. Both groups may have used a three-story tower.</p> <p>Like the rest of the Mesa Verde region, Spruce Tree House was abandoned in the 1200s. The Ancestral Puebloans migrated to the south. It is not known why they left Mesa Verde. Changes in the weather and conflict in the area may have forced them to leave.</p> <h2>Rediscovery</h2> <p>The Wetherill family had a ranch in the Mesa Verde area. On December 18, 1888, <strong>Richard Wetherill</strong> and his brother-in-law Charles Mason rediscovered Mesa Verde. The men were searching for cattle with their <strong>Ute</strong> guide, Acowitz, when they saw Cliff Palace. They discovered Spruce Tree House the next day. They named it for a spruce tree growing in the ruins (the tree was actually a Douglas fir). Wetherill spent the winter digging for artifacts in Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House. He later sold his collection to the Colorado Historical Society.</p> <p>In 1891 the site was shown to a Swedish scholar named <strong>Gustaf Nordenskiöld</strong>. He spent the summer excavating the cliff dwellings, including Spruce Tree House. His book <em>The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde</em> (1893) made people interested the area. He took many artifacts from his excavations. Many of Mesa Verde’s treasures are now housed at the National Museum of Finland.</p> <p>The cliff dwellings were damaged after their rediscovery. There were more visits from pothunters, amateur archaeologists, and tourists. In response, people who cared about Mesa Verde started a movement to make it a National Park. The <strong>Antiquities Act</strong> (1906) was passed to prevent people from taking items or harming the park.</p> <h2>Early Archaeological Work</h2> <p>In 1906 the Mesa Verde area became a National Park. Most of the structures in the park were in bad shape. They were filled with debris and in danger of collapsing. The park hired <strong>Jesse Walter Fewkes&nbsp;</strong>of the Bureau of American Ethnology to excavate, preserve, and do repair work at the park. From 1908 to 1922, Fewkes dug out and stabilized the cliff dwellings.</p> <p>In 1908 Fewkes started his work at Spruce Tree House. The site had easy access and was near the campsite. It was in better shape than the other ruins in the park. Fewkes and his crew prepared the site for visitors. They cleared rocks and repaired the walls. They improved its water drainage and constructed trails for visitors. They also found more than 500 artifacts.</p> <p>Since Fewkes’s time, most work at the site has focused on preserving Spruce Tree House by stabilizing the rocks in which the dwelling was built.</p> <p>Still, the forces of erosion continue to damage Spruce Tree House. Large rockfalls have created problems with the arch above the dwellings. In 1923 a fifty-foot slab of rock fell from the roof of Spruce Tree Cave. Luckily, it did not damage the dwelling. In 1940 workers removed plants and rocks from a large crack above Spruce Tree House. They installed a protective cover to keep water from widening it. In 1960 they had to remove the protective cover because of another rockfall. Cement was put in the crack and a copper covering was added. This, however, did not prevent three rockfalls in the summer of 1964. The park had to close the north end of the dwelling. Visitors were kept thirty feet away for safety until work was completed.</p> <h2>Today</h2> <p>Spruce Tree House had another rockfall in 2015. The dwelling was closed to the public. A climbing team studied the ledge above the dwelling. They removed sixty feet of rock. The team decided that more rockfalls were likely to occur, so Spruce Tree House has been closed to the public for safety. The park is creating a plan to make it safe. In the meantime, visitors can still see the site from overlooks near park headquarters.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-8th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-8th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-8th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-8th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-8th-grade"><p>Spruce Tree House is a cliff dwelling in <strong>Mesa Verde National Park</strong>. It was built by <strong>Ancestral Puebloans</strong> in the 1200s. The 114-room dwelling was rediscovered by rancher <strong>Richard Wetherill</strong> and Charles Mason in December 1888. Along with the rest of Mesa Verde, Spruce Tree House was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site in 1978.</p> <h2>Construction and Use</h2> <p>Spruce Tree House is built into the northeast wall of Spruce Tree Canyon. It is located across from the <strong>Mesa Verde Administrative District </strong>on Chapin Mesa. Like the other cliff dwellings in the area, it was built during the Pueblo III period from 1150–1300 CE. During this time, Mesa Verde residents moved from flat, open mesa tops to cliff alcoves, perhaps for greater protection. The site housed about 100 people.</p> <h2>Spruce Tree House Interior</h2> <p>Spruce Tree House was built between about 1200 and 1280. Each family constructed their own <strong>kiva</strong> and suites of rooms. Spruce Tree House grew to include 114 rooms and eight kivas. Kivas are circular areas that are excavated into the ground. The kivas were the central residential living spaces. They were used for homes and rituals, and they could be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Suites of small rooms were arranged around each kiva. These made up a courtyard that was shared by an extended family or clan. Front rooms were used for sleeping, while the back rooms were used for storage. As with nearby <strong>Cliff Palace</strong>, Spruce Tree House was separated into two sections, suggesting a social organization based on two distinct groups. An imposing three-story central tower may have served to unify the two groups.</p> <p>Like the rest of the Mesa Verde region, Spruce Tree House was abandoned in the final decades of the 1200s. The Ancestral Puebloans migrated to the south and southwest, although the exact reasons for the move remain unknown. Colder and drier weather, combined with increased conflict in the region, might have made it harder for residents to survive.</p> <h2>Rediscovery</h2> <p>On December 18, 1888, local rancher <strong>Richard Wetherill</strong> and his brother-in-law Charles Mason rediscovered Mesa Verde. The men were searching for cattle with their <strong>Ute</strong> guide, Acowitz, when they saw Cliff Palace. They discovered Spruce Tree House the next day, naming it for what they believed to be a spruce tree growing in the ruins (the tree was actually a Douglas fir). Wetherill spent the winter digging for artifacts in Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House. He later sold his collection to the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado).</p> <p>In 1891 Wetherill and Mason showed the site to visiting Swedish scholar <strong>Gustaf Nordenskiöld</strong>. He spent the summer excavating nearly two dozen cliff dwellings, including Spruce Tree House. His book <em>The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde</em> (1893) stimulated interest in the area’s archaeology. The many artifacts he removed during his excavations are now housed at the National Museum of Finland.</p> <p>The cliff dwellings deteriorated rapidly after their rediscovery. Visits from pothunters, amateur archaeologists, and tourists took their toll on the structures. In response, a movement developed in the 1890s and early 1900s to make Mesa Verde a National Park. The <strong>Antiquities Act</strong> (1906) was passed to prevent looting and vandalism at prehistoric sites on public land.</p> <h2>Early Archaeological Work</h2> <p>In 1906 the Mesa Verde area became a National Park. Most of the structures in the park were filled with debris and in danger of collapsing. The Department of the Interior hired <strong>Jesse Walter Fewkes&nbsp;</strong>of the Bureau of American Ethnology. His task was to excavate, preserve, and do repair work at the park. From 1908 to 1922, Fewkes excavated and stabilized the cliff dwellings.</p> <p>In 1908 Fewkes started his work at Spruce Tree House. The site had easy access, the location was near the campsite, and it was in a better state of preservation compared to most other ruins in the park. To prepare the dwelling for visitors, Fewkes and his team cleared debris from the interior and repaired and stabilized the structure’s walls. They also improved drainage away from the site and constructed trails for visitors. Despite heavy looting over the previous two decades, they managed to find more than 500 artifacts.</p> <h2>Preservation Work</h2> <p>Since Fewkes’s time, most work at Spruce Tree House has focused on preservation. Efforts have been made to stabilize the rock alcove in which the dwelling was built. At one point, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. funded a trash mound excavation.</p> <p>The same forces of erosion that formed Spruce Tree Cave have caused damage to the site. Large rockfalls have damaged the arch above Spruce Tree House. In 1923 a fifty-foot slab fell from the roof of Spruce Tree Cave. Luckily, it did little damage to the dwelling. In 1940 workers removed plants and rocks from a large crack in the ledge above Spruce Tree House. Then they applied a protective covering to try to keep water from widening it. A rockfall in 1960 led to the removal of the earlier protective covering. Cement grout was put in the crack and a copper lip was installed to divert drainage away from the ledge. Those precautions still did not prevent three major rockfalls in the summer of 1964. The park was forced to close the north end of the dwelling. Visitors were kept thirty feet away for safety until stabilization work was completed.</p> <h2>Today</h2> <p>Stabilization at Spruce Tree House became a major concern again in 2015, when another rockfall occurred. The dwelling was closed to the public. A climbing team investigated the ledge above the dwelling and removed sixty cubic feet of rock. During its work, the team saw evidence that more rockfalls were likely to occur. Spruce Tree House has been closed until a full assessment and stabilization can be completed. The park plans to use Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) to prepare a stabilization plan. In the meantime, visitors can still view the dwelling from overlooks near park headquarters.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-10th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-10th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-10th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-10th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-10th-grade"><p>Spruce Tree House is a cliff dwelling in <strong>Mesa Verde National Park</strong>. It was built by <strong>Ancestral Puebloans</strong> in the 1200s. The 114-room dwelling was rediscovered by rancher <strong>Richard Wetherill</strong> and Charles Mason in December 1888. Along with the rest of Mesa Verde, Spruce Tree House was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site in 1978.</p> <h2>Construction and Use</h2> <p>Spruce Tree House is on the northeast wall of Spruce Tree Canyon, just across from the <strong>Mesa Verde Administrative District</strong> on Chapin Mesa. Like the other cliff dwellings in the area, it was built during the Pueblo III period (1150–1300 CE). Mesa Verde residents had lived on the flat mesa tops, but moved to cliff alcoves during this period, perhaps for greater protection. The site probably housed about 100 people at any given time.</p> <h2>Spruce Tree House</h2> <p>Spruce Tree House was built between about 1200 and 1280. Each family constructed its own <strong>kiva</strong> and room suite and the site grew to include 114 rooms and eight kivas. Kivas are circular areas that are excavated into the ground. These were the central residential structures and were used for homes and ritual gatherings. They could be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Suites of small rooms arranged around each kiva made up a courtyard that was shared by an extended family or clan. Front rooms were used for sleeping, while the back rooms were used for storage. As with nearby <strong>Cliff Palace</strong>, Spruce Tree House was separated into two sections, suggesting a social organization based on two distinct groups. An imposing three-story central tower may have served to unify the two groups.</p> <p>Like the rest of the Mesa Verde region, Spruce Tree House was abandoned in the final decades of the 1200s when the Ancestral Puebloans migrated to the south and southwest. Although the exact reasons for the migration remain unknown, there is evidence that colder and drier weather, combined with increased conflict in the region, made it harder for residents to survive.</p> <h2>Rediscovery</h2> <p>On December 18, 1888, rancher <strong>Richard Wetherill</strong> and his brother-in-law Charles Mason rediscovered Mesa Verde. The men were searching for cattle with their <strong>Ute</strong> guide, Acowitz, when they first saw Cliff Palace. They discovered Spruce Tree House the next day, naming it for what they believed to be a spruce tree growing in the ruins (the tree was actually a Douglas fir). Wetherill spent the winter digging for artifacts in Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House. He later sold his collection to the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado).</p> <p>In 1891 Wetherill and Mason showed the site to a visiting Swedish scholar named <strong>Gustaf</strong> <strong>Nordenskiöld</strong>. He spent the summer excavating nearly two dozen cliff dwellings, including Spruce Tree House. His book <em>The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde</em> (1893) stimulated interest in the area’s archaeology. The many artifacts he removed during his excavations are now housed at the National Museum of Finland.</p> <p>The cliff dwellings deteriorated rapidly after their rediscovery. The area started to receive increased visitation from pothunters, amateur archaeologists, and tourists. In response, a movement developed in the 1890s and early 1900s to make Mesa Verde a National Park and to pass the <strong>Antiquities Act</strong> (1906) to prevent looting and vandalism at prehistoric sites on public land.</p> <h2>Early Archaeological Work</h2> <p>In 1906 the Mesa Verde area, including Spruce Tree&nbsp;House, became a National Park. Most of the structures in the park were filled with debris and in danger of collapsing. The Department of the Interior hired <strong>Jesse Walter Fewkes&nbsp;</strong>of the Bureau of American Ethnology to perform excavation, preservation, and repair work at the park. From 1908 to 1922, Fewkes excavated and stabilized a number of cliff dwellings.</p> <p>In 1908 Fewkes started his work at Spruce Tree House. It was chosen because of its easy access, location near the campsite, and because it was better preserved than most other ruins in the park. To prepare the dwelling for visitors, Fewkes and his team cleared debris from the interior areas and repaired and stabilized the structure’s walls. They improved drainage away from the site and constructed trails for visitor access. Despite heavy looting over the previous two decades, they also found more than 500 artifacts.</p> <h2>Erosion Control</h2> <p>Since Fewkes’s time, most work at the park has focused on preservation. A trash mound excavation was funded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Most other work at Spruce Tree House has been an ongoing effort to stabilize the rock alcove in which the dwelling was built.</p> <p>The same forces of erosion that formed Spruce Tree Cave have caused damage to the site. Large rockfalls from the arch above Spruce Tree House are the cause. In 1923 a fifty-foot slab fell from the roof of Spruce Tree Cave, but luckily it did little damage to the dwelling. In 1940 workers removed plants and rock debris from a large crack in the ledge above Spruce Tree House. Then a protective covering was applied to keep water from widening it. A rockfall in 1960 led to the removal of the earlier protective covering. Cement grout was put in the crack and a copper lip was installed to divert drainage away from the ledge. Those efforts did not prevent three major rockfalls in the summer of 1964. The park closed the north end of Spruce House and kept visitors thirty feet away for safety until stabilization work was completed.</p> <h2>Today</h2> <p>Stabilization at Spruce Tree House became a major concern again in 2015, when another rockfall occurred. The dwelling was closed to the public. A climbing team investigated the ledge above the dwelling and removed sixty cubic feet of rock. During their work, the team saw evidence that more rockfalls were likely to occur, so Spruce Tree House has been closed until a full assessment and stabilization can be completed. The park plans to use Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) to map the crack in the rock and prepare a stabilization plan. In the meantime, visitors can still view the dwelling from overlooks near park headquarters.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Fri, 05 May 2017 16:51:05 +0000 yongli 2548 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Montezuma County http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/montezuma-county <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Montezuma County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--1519--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--1519.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/montezuma-county"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/MontezumaCounty_0.jpg?itok=3rYlvBkh" width="640" height="463" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/montezuma-county" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Montezuma County</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Montezuma County, home of Mesa Verde National Park, was established in 1889.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-06-27T15:03:09-06:00" title="Monday, June 27, 2016 - 15:03" class="datetime">Mon, 06/27/2016 - 15:03</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/montezuma-county" data-a2a-title="Montezuma County"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fmontezuma-county&amp;title=Montezuma%20County"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Montezuma County, famous for the ancient Native American ruins at <a href="/article/mesa-verde-national-park"><strong>Mesa Verde</strong></a>, is the  southwesternmost county in Colorado. The county covers 2,040 square miles of the <strong>Colorado Plateau</strong>, and has the distinction of bordering Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. It is known as the <strong>Four Corners </strong>region, where the boundaries of four states intersect. Montezuma County is surrounded by three different San Juan Counties: <a href="/article/san-juan-county"><strong>San Juan County</strong></a>, Colorado to the northeast; San Juan County, New Mexico to the south; and San Juan County, Utah to the west. <a href="/article/dolores-county"><strong>Dolores County</strong></a>, Colorado, lies along its northern border and <a href="/article/la-plata-county"><strong>La Plata County</strong></a> along its eastern. The county’s southwest corner touches Apache County, Arizona.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>When the county was established in 1889, the ruins within its borders were thought to be of Aztec origin. Thus, Montezuma County is named after the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, and its county seat, <strong>Cortez</strong>, is named after the Spanish conquistador who vanquished him. Most of the county’s ancient Native American ruins are located in Mesa Verde National Park in the southeast and <strong>Canyons of the Ancients National Monument </strong>in the west. In addition, <a href="/article/hovenweep-national-monument"><strong>Hovenweep National Monument</strong></a> lies just over the county’s western border in Utah.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The <a href="/article/ute-history-and-ute-mountain-ute-tribe"><strong>Ute Mountain Ute Reservation</strong></a> and its capital, <strong>Towaoc</strong>, are located in southern Montezuma County. Towaoc—a word that means “just fine”—has a population of 1,087; Native Americans make up 11 percent of the county’s 25,772 residents. Cortez has a population of 8,482 and sits in central Montezuma County at the juncture of US Routes 491 and 160 and State Highway 145. Other notable towns include <strong>Mancos</strong> (pop. 1,336), along US 160 northeast of Mesa Verde, and <strong>Dolores</strong> (pop. 936), along Colorado 145 at the southern end of McPhee Reservoir. State Highway 184 connects Mancos and Dolores and meets US 491 just south of the unincorporated area of Lewis. The <strong>Dolores River</strong> flows into the county from the northeast, alongside Colorado 145 and through the San Juan National Forest.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Ancient Inhabitants</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>As early as 2,200 years ago, the Mesa Verde region was inhabited by the <a href="/article/paleo-indian-period"><strong>Paleo-Indian</strong></a> ancestors of the <a href="/article/ancestral-puebloans-four-corners-region"><strong>Ancestral Puebloans</strong></a> who would leave their edificial legacy on the cliff sides. By the end of the sixth century AD the descendants of those Paleo-Indians, known to archaeologists as Basketmakers on account of their proficiency at that craft, began to settle on top of the mesa. Already part-time farmers, they found fertile soils on the southern flanks of the flattop where they could grow maize and other crops. They also began exploring the mesa’s many deep canyons, and found suitable shelter in stone pockets created by the freezing and thawing of the rocks and by water percolating through the mesa’s sandstone cap.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Although life on top of a 7,000-foot mesa without steel tools and other later technology must have been difficult, it was probably easier than anywhere else these Basketmakers had lived since they stayed. They built primitive dwellings called pithouses, and by the ninth century these had evolved into flat-roofed, multiple-room structures built on top of the mesa, their walls anchored by stone slabs and held together by a thick mud mortar.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By the tenth century these Ancestral Puebloans had converted the earlier pithouse design into their famous sandstone <a href="/article/kivas"><strong>kivas</strong></a>—the large, one-room ceremonial structures typical of many Puebloan archaeological sites throughout Colorado and the Southwest. Ancestral Puebloans did not transfer these structural designs to the famous cliff sides until about the mid-thirteenth century, when some event—climatic, cultural, or likely both—prompted the hasty construction of houses and kivas in the canyon alcoves.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Mesa Verde’s most famous and most photographed structure, the <a href="/article/cliff-palace"><strong>Cliff Palace</strong></a>, was finished sometime between 1260 and 1280, before a twenty-five-year drought decimated the food supply and possibly prompted the mass exodus from the mesa. By 1300 the Ancestral Puebloans had disappeared from the region. Although the drought certainly played a large role in the abandonment, it is still not entirely clear what combination of events in the late thirteenth century forced the Ancestral Puebloans to leave Mesa Verde.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Nuche</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The Nuche, or Ute people, were present in the Four Corners region by 1300, and by 1500 southwest Colorado was occupied by a band of Utes called the Weenuche: the “long time ago people.” Although the Weenuche came to be the most dominant group, other groups of Utes—such as the Muache and Capote—as well as Navajo and Southern Paiute people also frequented the Four Corners area.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Utes lived off the natural resources of Colorado’s mountains and river valleys, hunting <a href="/article/rocky-mountain-elk"><strong>elk</strong></a>, <a href="/article/mule-deer"><strong>deer</strong></a>, jackrabbit, and other game. They also gathered a wide assortment of wild berries and roots, including the versatile yucca root. In the summer they followed game high into the <a href="/article/san-juan-mountains"><strong>San Juan Mountains</strong></a>, and in the winter they followed the animals back to the shelter of the lower river valleys, such as the Dolores.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Spanish Era</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>By the early seventeenth century, the northern frontier of New Spain pressed up against the lands of the Weenuche and other Utes in southwestern Colorado. The Nuche relationship with the Spaniards was one of alternate raiding and trading. As early as 1640 they had acquired horses from their European neighbors to the south. Horses allowed the Utes, who were already accustomed to ranging across vast territories, to cover even more ground in search of trade or larger populations of game such as buffalo. The horse also increased the value of river valleys, as Ute ponies could find ample forage there in winter.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Official <strong>Spanish exploration</strong> of the Montezuma County area began with the expedition of <a href="/article/juan-antonio-mar%C3%ADa-de-rivera"><strong>Juan de Rivera</strong></a> in 1765. Rivera’s mission was to have the Utes guide him to the Colorado River—then known as the Río del Tizón—and investigate rumors of silver deposits in the mountains.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the summer of 1765 Rivera’s expedition reached the Dolores River near present-day Dolores, but Nuche there warned him not to proceed any farther until the fall, when cooler weather prevailed. Rivera’s group headed back to New Mexico. In the fall Rivera again crossed the Montezuma County area on his way to the Dolores River.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Rivera’s expedition carved out a route for future traders and explorers. In July 1776, the Spanish friars Silvestre Escalante and Francisco Domínguez were dispatched to find an overland passage from Santa Fé to Monterey, California. After following Rivera’s old route through present-day <a href="/article/archuleta-county"><strong>Archuleta</strong></a>, La Plata, Montezuma, <a href="/article/dolores-county"><strong>Dolores</strong></a>, and <a href="/article/san-miguel-county"><strong>San Miguel</strong></a> Counties, Dominguez and Escalante pushed northeast into the <a href="/article/gunnison-river"><strong>Gunnison</strong></a> Valley and then northwest into Utah. In October a punishing blizzard forced them back to Santa Fé.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>They had not found passage to Monterey, but Domínguez and Escalante had pushed farther into western Colorado than any other Spanish explorer. They were also the first Europeans to document the Mesa Verde region in 1776.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Explorers, Farmers, and Ranchers</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The Montezuma County area belonged to Mexico after it won independence from Spain in 1821, but was ceded to the United States after the Mexican-American War (1846–48). In 1859 an American expedition led by Captain <strong>John Macomb</strong> left Santa Fé and crossed the northern part of present-day Montezuma County. Macomb sought to map a railroad or wagon route through southwest Colorado, but found the terrain too difficult for practical construction of either. His expedition was the last official US military exploration of southwest Colorado.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The years after 1876 saw increased migration of Hispano ranchers and farmers from New Mexico into present-day Montezuma County. Most of these migrants opposed the opening of Ute lands to Americans, as they feared it would increase Anglo dominance of the area. Colorado historian William Wyckoff notes that “many Ute babies had Hispano baptismal godparents, and relations between the two groups were cordial.” The continued presence of Anglo-American, Hispano, and Native Americans led to the development of a rich cultural mosaic that persists to the present.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Ute Mountain Ute Reservation</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The US government brokered a <a href="/article/ute-treaty-1868"><strong>treaty with Utes</strong></a> in 1868 that left the Native Americans a huge reservation encompassing nearly the entire western third of Colorado. But against the wishes of both the government and the Utes, prospectors soon filtered into the San Juans northeast of present-day Montezuma County. A few successful strikes in the mountains in the early 1870s led to the <a href="/article/brunot-agreement"><strong>Brunot Agreement</strong></a> in 1873.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Under the agreement, the Ute leader <a href="/article/ouray"><strong>Ouray</strong></a> agreed to cede the San Juan Mountains, including the eastern part of present-day Montezuma County, to the United States. The agreement also established the <strong>Southern Ute Indian Reservation</strong> south of the ceded territory for the Weenuche, Capote, and Muache Utes. </p>&#13; &#13; <p>Later, the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/dawes-act-general-allotment-act"><strong>Dawes Act </strong></a>of 1887 directed that reservation land be allotted to individual tribal members, but many Weenuches rejected the idea of allotment and preferred one large reservation. To that end, in 1895 the government established the <a href="/article/ute-history-and-ute-mountain-ute-tribe"><strong>Ute Mountain Ute Reservation</strong></a> out of the western edge of the Southern Ute Reservation. Weenuche Utes began settling the reservation in 1897, and they gained federal recognition as the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in 1915.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Tension between whites and Utes in Montezuma County persisted despite the reservations. One common source of conflict was the tendency of white ranchers’ herds to stray onto the reservation. In addition, the federal government proved unreliable in furnishing supplies promised to the Utes in earlier treaties, so some Utes left the reservation to hunt. White ranchers often accused Utes of killing their cattle and committing other crimes. These tensions sometimes resulted in violence, such as when Utes killed at least a dozen ranchers in the spring of 1881, or when whites murdered a group of Utes at a campsite along <a href="/article/beaver-creek-massacre"><strong>Beaver Creek</strong></a> in 1885. That same year Weenuches burned the Genthner home on Totten Lake, near Cortez, and killed the family patriarch, though his wife and six children survived. Sporadic violence continued until the last major conflict in 1915, which left several Utes and members of a joint Anglo-American-Mexican posse dead.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Despite these conflicts, Utes and non-native residents managed to coexist peacefully in Montezuma County after the turn of the century. In the first third of the twentieth century, many Utes found employment as cowboys or farmers. Today, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe hosts guided tours of their homeland for visitors.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>County Establishment</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The first permanent white residents in Montezuma County were miners who explored the Mancos Valley on the heels of the Brunot Agreement. In 1873 a small and bankrupt <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>mining</strong></a> party consisting of Almarion Root, Alex K. Fleming, Robert Jones, and Henry Lightner found a deposit that would become the site of the Comstock Mine in the La Plata Mountains. The party was fortunate to run into Captain John Moss, who was scouting Colorado mining ventures for wealthy San Francisco bankers. Moss took some samples from the Root party’s find, which impressed his California sponsor.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Moss returned from San Francisco with his own party in July, finding and naming the Montezuma Valley. By July 1874, Moss had found an agreeable settlement site on the fertile lands of the Mancos Valley, and he decided to set up a town that could support mining operations in the mountains. The town of Mancos was incorporated in 1894. More white settlers arrived in the Mancos community over the next few years, and in 1877 the first settlers arrived in the Dolores River valley.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Montezuma County was carved from the western portion of La Plata County in 1889. A little more than a year later, the Rio Grande &amp; Southern Railroad connected Mancos and Dolores, providing an important boost to the county economy.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1886 the town of Cortez was laid out by M. J. Mack, an engineer for the Montezuma Valley Water Supply Company. Construction on the town’s main <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/irrigation-colorado"><strong>irrigation</strong></a> ditch, which took water from the Dolores River, continued into 1887; in the meantime, the town’s first residents had to haul in their own barrels of water on wagons. On July 4, 1890, the first flowing water supplied the town’s few residences via a forty-foot flume.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By the late nineteenth century, ranching was the dominant economic activity in Montezuma County; nearly every homesteader had a cattle herd, and there were thousands of cattle ranging across the river valleys. Ranchers had also driven Native Americans off of grassy flattops such as Mesa Verde; in 1888 rancher <a href="/article/richard-wetherill"><strong>Richard Wetherill</strong></a> discovered the Cliff Palace while chasing some of his herd.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Montezuma County’s ranching economy faded in the early twentieth century, however, as the amount of irrigated farmland increased and the creation of national parks and forest reserves reduced the amount of available grazing land.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Mining</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>A handful of mining activities began in the mountains east of Mancos in the late nineteenth century and continued into the twentieth. The Sundown Mine, the area’s first high-paying mine, was established in 1894; in 1898 Montezuma County mines produced an estimated $15,000 worth of gold.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Though it never stopped, mining tapered off at the beginning of the twentieth century, only to experience a revival in the 1930s. In 1933 Charles Starr and his sons, Raymond and Howard, found a rich gold deposit east of Mancos. They opened the Red Arrow Mine, and its first shipment produced about $6,000 worth of gold. The mine was closed during World War II but was reopened after the war and remains in production today.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In mid-February 1936, an <a href="/article/avalanche"><strong>avalanche</strong></a> wiped out a mining camp east of Mancos belonging to the Hesperus Mining Company, killing six and destroying company property worth $75,000. The event remains the deadliest avalanche in county history.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Twentieth Century</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>At the turn of the century, the county’s economy began a transition from ranching to farming. The amount of irrigated land increased from 2,122 acres in 1889 to 27,176 acres in 1909, while the number of farms grew from 261 in 1900 to 1,004 in 1910. Apple and peach orchards sprang up to the north and west of Cortez, in Lebanon and McElmo Canyon. McElmo Canyon peaches even took home awards at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Cortez continued to grow in the early twentieth century. In 1908 the Clifton Hotel burned down, and owner Johnny Brown and his wife rebuilt it as the Brown Palace Hotel, which still operates today. By 1910 the town had 565 residents.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Construction of the county’s first major road, a highway that ran from Durango to Mancos, began in 1913 and was complete by 1919. By the 1920s Montezuma County had a population of about 7,000 and boasted more than 40,000 acres of irrigated land. Its agricultural bounty included alfalfa, corn, wheat, pears, cherries, apples, peaches, sheep, and cattle for beef and dairy.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>To prevent the exploitation of timber and grass reserves, President Theodore Roosevelt created the San Juan Forest Reserve—along with many other reserves in Colorado—in 1905. The government also created Mesa Verde National Park in 1906, Hovenweep National Monument in 1919, and<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/yucca-house-national-monument"><strong> Yucca House National Monument</strong></a> in 1923, bringing more of the county’s land under federal management. Mesa Verde National Park was expanded in 1911 via a land exchange with the Weenuche so it would include more of the famous cliff dwellings. County farmers largely supported the creation of new federal lands because it preserved their water supply; ranchers, however, viciously opposed these developments because they curtailed the amount of grazing land.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Along with the rest of the country, Montezuma County suffered during the <strong>Great Depression</strong> (1929–39), as production of nearly every agricultural commodity dropped sharply. After <strong>World War II</strong>, the county’s farms rebounded, and the economy added the new pillars of tourism and energy extraction. Spurred on by the uptick in automobile ownership, the number of visitors to Mesa Verde National Park more than tripled between 1941 and 1953. Major oil strikes west of Pleasant View in 1948 and in nearby Aneth, Utah, in 1956 turned Cortez into a prominent supply center for the oil industry. <a href="/article/uranium-mining"><strong>Uranium</strong></a> prospecting also funneled money into Cortez during the 1950s.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The local oil and uranium industries spurred significant development in Cortez. The city got a new hospital in 1948. Main Street was paved in 1951, followed by several other streets in 1953–54. Two new elementary schools were added in 1950 and 1955. The first commercial planes arrived in the 1950s, and the first broadcast from the new local radio station, KVFC, hit the airwaves in 1955. With the energy industries fueling development, Cortez’s population grew from 2,680 in 1950 to 6,764 1960, an increase of more than 150 percent.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The energy boom of the 1950s went bust in the 1960s, and Montezuma County became even more dependent on tourism. In 1992, the state designated Montezuma County as one of its Enterprise Zones—economically underdeveloped areas where businesses can receive tax breaks just for setting up shop. This allowed Montezuma County businesses to claim more than $7 million in tax credits and create 1,677 jobs between 1992 and 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In the 1980s, the federal <a href="/article/bureau-reclamation-colorado"><strong>Bureau of Reclamation</strong></a> began building McPhee Reservoir on the Dolores River. When the project was completed in 1995, it irrigated an additional 35,000 acres, 7,500 of which lay on the Ute Mountain reservation. The reservoir also provides Towaoc, Cortez, and Dolores with a long-term water supply.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Today</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The federal government established Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in western Montezuma County in 2000, which brought the amount of land under federal management to about one-third of the county’s total. Tourism remains the main driver of the county economy, although the market value of its agricultural products has increased in recent years.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/montezuma-county" hreflang="en">montezuma county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/montezuma-county-history" hreflang="en">montezuma county history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mancos" hreflang="en">mancos</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cortez" hreflang="en">cortez</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/southern-ute-indian-reservation" hreflang="en">Southern Ute Indian Reservation</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mesa-verde-national-park" hreflang="en">Mesa Verde National Park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/richard-wetherill" hreflang="en">Richard Wetherill</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cliff-dwelling" hreflang="en">cliff dwelling</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/kiva" hreflang="en">kiva</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/four-corners" hreflang="en">four corners</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-plateau" hreflang="en">colorado plateau</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mesa-verde" hreflang="en">mesa verde</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Phil Carson, <em>Across the Northern Frontier: Spanish Explorations in Colorado </em>(Boulder, CO: Johnson Printing, 1998).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado, “<a href="https://www.scan.org/uploads/Montezuma_County_Performance_Report_2013.pdf">2013 Development Report: Montezuma County, Colorado</a>,” 2013.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado, “<a href="https://www.scan.org/uploads/2011_CEDS_montezuma.pdf">Montezuma County Economic Development Strategy Update 2011</a>,” 2011.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Ira S. Freeman, <em>A History of Montezuma County</em> (Boulder, CO: Johnson Publishing, 1958).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Jonathon C. Horn, “<a href="https://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/co/nm/canm/CANM_Documents.Par.87163.File.dat/Ancients%20Report.pdf">Landscape-Level History of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Montezuma and Dolores Counties, Colorado</a>” (Montrose, CO: Alpine Archaeological Consultants, 2004).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Rose Houk and Faith Marcovecchio, eds., <em>Mesa Verde National Park: The First 100 Years</em>, Mesa Verde Museum Association (Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 2006).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“Montezuma County, Colorado” (Grand Junction, CO: Winfield’s Press, 1926).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Paul M. O’Rourke, <a href="https://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/wo/Planning_and_Renewable_Resources/coop_agencies/new_documents/co4.Par.36501.File.dat/orourke.pdf"><em>Frontier in Transition: A History of Southwestern Colorado</em></a> (Denver: Bureau of Land Management, 1992).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Jill Seyfarth,  “<a href="https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/Programs/CLG_Survey_Cortez2012.pdf">Historic Buildings Survey: Montezuma Avenue, Cortez, Colorado 2012</a>,” (Durango, CO: Cultural Resource Planning, 2012).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Virginia McConnell Simmons, <em>The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico </em>(Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2000).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>US Department of Agriculture, “<a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2012/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/">2012 Census of Agriculture County Profile: Montezuma County, Colorado</a>,” National Agricultural Statistics Service.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p><a href="https://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/nm/canm.html">Canyons of the Ancients National Monument</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://www.cortezco.gov/">City of Cortez</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p>Colorado.com Staff, "<a href="https://www.colorado.com/articles/discover-four-corners-region-things-do">Discover the Four Corners Region: Things to Do</a>," Colorado Tourism, 2017.</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://scan.org/">Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.nps.gov/hove/index.htm">Hovenweep National Monument</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm">Mesa Verde National Park</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://montezumacounty.org/web/">Montezuma County</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="https://www.mancoscolorado.com/">Town of Mancos</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://www.utemountaintribalpark.info/">Ute Mountain Tribal Park</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p>Richard K. Young, <em>The Ute Indians of Colorado in the Twentieth Century </em>(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Mon, 27 Jun 2016 21:03:09 +0000 yongli 1518 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Cliff Palace http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cliff-palace <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Cliff Palace</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: x field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-article-image.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-article-image.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div id="carouselEncyclopediaArticle" class="carousel slide" data-bs-ride="true"> <div class="carousel-inner"> <div class="carousel-item active"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--1598--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--1598.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/cliff-palace"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Cliff_Palace_1_0.jpg?itok=uaEJ0Ki3" width="1090" height="392" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/cliff-palace" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Cliff Palace</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Constructed by Ancestral Puebloans in the 1200s, the 150-room Cliff Palace is now part of Mesa Verde National Park and is one of the most photographed places on Earth.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> <div class="carousel-item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * node--1601--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--1601.html.twig x node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig * node--image.html.twig * node--article-detail-image.html.twig * node.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image--image.html.twig * field--node--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--field-encyclopedia-image.html.twig * field--image.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-encyclopedia-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_formatter' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> <a href="/image/cliff-palace-1891"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image_style' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'image' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/wide/public/Mesa_Verde_-_Cliff_Palace_in_1891_0.jpg?itok=dk32cD5u" width="1000" height="726" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-wide" /> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-style.html.twig' --> </a> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/image-formatter.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="carousel-caption d-none d-md-block"> <h5><a href="/image/cliff-palace-1891" rel="bookmark"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--image.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Cliff Palace, 1891</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> </a></h5> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--image.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--image.html.twig * field--body.html.twig x field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>In 1891 the Swedish scholar Gustaf Nordenskiöld conducted the first significant excavations at Cliff Palace. His work stimulated wider interest in the Mesa Verde area.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--text-with-summary.html.twig' --> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/content/node--image--article-detail-image.html.twig' --> </div> </div> <button class="carousel-control-prev" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="prev"> <span class="carousel-control-prev-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Previous</span> </button> <button class="carousel-control-next" type="button" data-bs-target="#carouselEncyclopediaArticle" data-bs-slide="next"> <span class="carousel-control-next-icon" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="visually-hidden">Next</span> </button> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--field-article-image--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-05-25T14:48:51-06:00" title="Wednesday, May 25, 2016 - 14:48" class="datetime">Wed, 05/25/2016 - 14:48</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cliff-palace" data-a2a-title="Cliff Palace"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fcliff-palace&amp;title=Cliff%20Palace"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Located in an alcove on the east wall of Cliff Canyon in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/mesa-verde-national-park"><strong>Mesa Verde National Park</strong></a>, Cliff Palace is a 150-room <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cliff-dwelling"><strong>cliff dwelling</strong></a> built by <a href="/article/ancestral-puebloans-four-corners-region"><strong>Ancestral Pueblo</strong></a>&nbsp;people in the 1200s. Diné (<strong>Navajo</strong>), Nuche&nbsp;(<a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/search/google/ute"><strong>Ute</strong></a>), <strong>Apache</strong>, and Pueblo people knew of the structures well before&nbsp;rancher <a href="/article/richard-wetherill"><strong>Richard Wetherill</strong></a> and Charles Mason encountered them&nbsp;in 1888. The largest and best-known cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde, Cliff Palace is also one of the most photographed structures on earth. Along with the rest of Mesa Verde, Cliff Palace was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1978.</p> <h2>Construction and Use</h2> <p>Cliff Palace and the other cliff dwellings were constructed during the Pueblo III period (1150–1300 CE) of the Ancestral Pueblo&nbsp;tradition, when Mesa Verde residents began to move from mesa tops to cliff alcoves, perhaps for greater protection. The site probably had a population of 150 or more and served as an administrative center for the sixty smaller cliff dwellings nearby, which could have housed an estimated 625 people.</p> <p>Cliff Palace was built in pieces between about 1200 and 1275, with each family constructing its own kiva and room suite, and grew to include 150 rooms and twenty-three <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/kivas"><strong>kivas</strong></a>. Kivas, circular areas excavated into the ground, were the central residential structures at sites such as Cliff Palace. Kivas could be used for residences and ritual gatherings; they could also be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Around each kiva were suites of small rooms that made up a courtyard complex shared by an extended family or clan. These residential courtyard complexes made up more than 75 percent of Cliff Palace. The rest of the site consisted of isolated kivas, rooms without nearby kivas, circular towers, great kivas, and other special-use spaces.</p> <p>Like the rest of the Mesa Verde region, Cliff Palace was evacuated in the final decades of the 1200s when the Ancestral Pueblo&nbsp;migrated to the south and southwest. Although the exact reasons for the migration remain unknown, there is evidence that colder and drier weather, combined with increased conflict in the region, made it harder for residents to rely on traditional strategies for survival.</p> <h2>"Rediscovery" in 1888</h2> <p>Local Indigenous groups were well aware of the Cliff Palace before&nbsp;local rancher Al Wetherill and several others claimed to have seen it&nbsp;in the 1880s.&nbsp;On December 18, 1888, Al’s brother Richard and their brother-in-law, Charles Mason, found the site. The men were searching for cattle with their Ute guide, Acowitz, when they first saw the structure. They explored it and soon discovered other cliff dwellings and pueblos nearby. Richard Wetherill returned to the area throughout the winter to explore and dig for artifacts, which he later sold to the Colorado Historical Society (now <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/history-colorado-colorado-historical-society"><strong>History Colorado</strong></a>).</p> <p>In 1891 the Wetherill brothers and Mason showed Mesa Verde to the visiting Swedish scholar <a href="/article/gustaf-nordenski%C3%B6ld-and-mesa-verde-region"><strong>Gustaf Nordenskiöld</strong></a>, who spent the summer excavating nearly two dozen cliff dwellings in the area, including Cliff Palace. His book <em>The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde</em> (1893) played a crucial role in stimulating interest in the area’s archaeology. The&nbsp;artifacts he plundered during his excavations were long housed at the National Museum of Finland, but in 2019 the Finnish government agreed to return many of them—including some human remains and funerary objects—to native tribes in the region.</p> <p>Cliff Palace had deteriorated somewhat in the six centuries since its occupation, but the process of decay accelerated rapidly after its rediscovery, as it saw increased visitation from pothunters, amateur archaeologists, and tourists. In response, a movement developed in the 1890s and early 1900s to make Mesa Verde a national park and to pass the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/antiquities-act"><strong>Antiquities Act</strong></a>&nbsp;(1906) to prevent looting and vandalism at prehistoric sites on public land.</p> <h2>Archaeological Work and Preservation Efforts</h2> <p>In 1906 the Mesa Verde area, including Cliff Palace, became a national park. Most of the structures in the park were still filled with debris and in danger of collapsing, so the Department of the Interior asked <strong>Jesse Walter Fewkes</strong> of the Bureau of American Ethnology to come to the park and perform excavation, preservation, and repair work. From 1908 to 1922 Fewkes excavated and stabilized cliff dwellings at the park, including Cliff Palace, where he worked in 1909–10. His team recovered artifacts; cleared rooms, courts, and terraces of debris; strengthened walls; and built a new trail to make the site more accessible to visitors. Fewkes counted 217 rooms and twenty-three kivas at Cliff Palace, making it what was then believed to be the largest cliff dwelling in the United States.</p> <p>Since Fewkes’s time, most work at the park has focused on preservation. By the early 1930s, Cliff Palace was settling on its unstable foundations and in desperate need of repair. The Public Works Administration helped fund a program of surveying, mapping, and stabilization. <strong>Earl Morris</strong> of the Carnegie Institution led the 1934 project at Cliff Palace, which added concrete retaining walls and repaired a four-story square tower. The project marked a turning point in preservation efforts at Mesa Verde because Morris implemented a new policy of documenting all repairs so that it would be possible in the future to tell the difference between the parts of the site that were original and those that had been restored. The 1934 project was also significant for marking the start of <strong>James “Al” Lancaster</strong>’s long career at Mesa Verde, where he led the park’s stabilization crew for several decades.</p> <h2>Mapping Cliff Palace</h2> <p>In the late 1990s Mesa Verde was one of the first recipients of funding from the Save America’s Treasures program launched by the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The park’s chief archaeologist, Larry Nordby, used part of the money to make the first comprehensive map of Cliff Palace. Nordby’s map showed that Cliff Palace actually had 150 rooms, not the 217 Fewkes had counted, making it the same size as <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/long-house">Long Hous</a></strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/long-house"><strong>e</strong></a> on nearby Wetherill Mesa.</p> <p>Nordby’s map and analysis also revealed other new details about life at Cliff Palace. Many of the rooms at the site appear to have been used primarily for storage, indicating that Cliff Palace may have served as a central warehouse and distribution center for other dwellings in the area, with perhaps as few as 125 residents of its own. In addition, Nordby discovered a wall running through the center of the site that divided it into two parts, suggesting a social organization based on two distinct groups.</p> <h2>2015 Conservation and Stabilization Project</h2> <p>The 800-year-old Cliff Palace has a variety of structural problems that are exacerbated by frequent visitation and have required regular stabilization since the middle of the twentieth century. Especially since World War II, when visitation to Mesa Verde National Park increased dramatically, vibrations from foot traffic have caused loose material at the site to settle. To limit the damage, park officials have kept the public away from certain parts of the site and have limited the size of tour groups. They have also performed regular maintenance to repair cracks, stabilize walls, and improve drainage for water seeping through the alcove roof.</p> <p>Most recently, in 2011 a wall collapse in Kiva F led to a comprehensive investigation of structural conditions at Cliff Palace. Archaeologists found that although the northern half of the site was built on firm bedrock, the southern half sat on loose soil and debris that had fallen from the alcove ceiling. With no real foundation, the southern half of the site was slowly sliding downhill, causing cracks, falling walls, and other problems. Park staff developed a plan for a $450,000 preservation effort and performed extensive repairs before Memorial Day and after Labor Day in 2015. The conservation project closed Cliff Palace to the public in spring and fall 2015, but daily tours were conducted as usual during the summer.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cliff-palace" hreflang="en">Cliff Palace</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/cliff-dwelling" hreflang="en">cliff dwelling</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/mesa-verde-national-park" hreflang="en">Mesa Verde National Park</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/richard-wetherill" hreflang="en">Richard Wetherill</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/gustaf-nordenskiold" hreflang="en">Gustaf Nordenskiold</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jesse-walter-fewkes" hreflang="en">Jesse Walter Fewkes</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/earl-morris" hreflang="en">Earl Morris</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>William M. Ferguson, <em>The Anasazi of Mesa Verde and the Four Corners</em> (Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1996).</p> <p>Florence C. Lister, <em>Troweling Through Time: The First Century of Mesa Verdean Archaeology</em> (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2004).</p> <p>David Grant Noble, ed., <em>The Mesa Verde World: Explorations in Ancestral Pueblo Archaeology</em> (Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press, 2006).</p> <p>“<a href="https://www.nps.gov/meve/learn/historyculture/cliff_palace_preservation.htm">Preserving Cliff Palace</a>,” Mesa Verde National Park, National Park Service.</p> <p><span style="color: rgb(59, 59, 59); font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.02px;">Kevin Simpson,&nbsp;</span><a class="ext" href="https://coloradosun.com/2019/10/10/mesa-verde-remains-nordenskiold/" style="color: rgb(0, 144, 235); font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.02px;" title=" (external link)">"More Than a Century Ago, a European Visitor Took More Than 600 Native American Remains and Artifacts From Colorado's Mesa Verde,"</a><span style="color: rgb(59, 59, 59); font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.02px;">&nbsp;</span><em style="color: rgb(59, 59, 59); font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.02px;">Colorado Sun</em><span style="color: rgb(59, 59, 59); font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20.02px;">, October 10, 2019.</span></p> <p>Ricardo Torres-Reyes, <em>Mesa Verde National Park: An Administrative History, 1906–1970</em> (Washington, DC: National Park Service, 1970).</p> <p>Barbara Wyatt, “Mesa Verde National Park Archeological District,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form (December 8, 1976).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p><a href="https://www.nps.gov/meve/learn/historyculture/cd_cliff_palace.htm">“Cliff Palace,”</a> Mesa Verde National Park, National Park Service.</p> <p>Jesse Walter Fewkes, <em>Antiquities of the Mesa Verde National Park: Cliff Palace</em>, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 51 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1911).</p> <p>Gustav Nordenskiöld, <em>The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, Southwestern Colorado</em> (Glorieta, NM: Rio Grande Press, 1979).</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-teacher-resources--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-teacher-resources.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-teacher-resources.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-teacher-resources field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-teacher-resources"><p><a href="/sites/default/files/TRS_Cliff_Palace.docx">Cliff Palace Teacher Resource Set - Word</a></p> <p><a href="/sites/default/files/TRS_Cliff_Palace.pdf">Cliff Palace Teacher Resource Set - PDF</a></p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-4th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-4th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-4th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-4th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-4th-grade"><p>Cliff Palace is a group of 150 rooms carved into the cliffs of Mesa Verde. It was built 800 years ago by Ancestral Puebloans. Ranchers rediscovered Cliff Palace in 1888. Mesa Verde became one of the first National Parks. Cliff Palace is the largest and best-known cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde. It is one of the most photographed places in the world.</p> <p>Mesa Verde got a special honor in 1978. It was named a United Nations (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.</p> <h2>Construction and Use</h2> <p>Cliff dwellings were built by the Ancestral Puebloans, who were ancestors of the Pueblo Native American tribe. The cliff dwellings were built from 1200–75. The people had lived on flat ground around Mesa Verde. To keep their community safe, they started to build homes in the cliffs. Cliff Palace was home to 125-150 people. There were sixty smaller cliff dwellings nearby. About 625 people lived in the Mesa Verde area.</p> <p>Each family built its own kiva and rooms. Soon there were 150 rooms and twenty-three kivas. Kivas are round rooms dug into the ground. Kivas were used for religious and social gatherings. They could be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Around each kiva were small rooms. These made up a courtyard that was shared by a family or clan. Courtyards made up most of Cliff Palace. There were also kivas without courtyards and rooms without kivas. The Ancestral Puebloans also built circular towers, great kivas, and other spaces.</p> <p>The Ancestral Puebloans left the Mesa Verde area at the end of the 1200s. They moved to land in the south. No one knows why they left Mesa Verde. Experts think that the weather became colder and dryer. There might have been conflicts with other groups in the area. These things made it hard to live at Mesa Verde.</p> <h2>Rediscovery in 1888</h2> <p>The Wetherills were ranchers near Mesa Verde. On December 18, 1888, Richard Wetherill, Charles Mason, and their Ute guide Acowitz were searching for cattle. They saw Cliff Palace for the first time. They explored it, and then they discovered other cliff dwellings. Richard Wetherill returned to the area all winter. He explored more and dug for artifacts.</p> <p>In 1891 the Wetherills showed Mesa Verde to a Swedish scholar, Gustaf Nordenskiöld. Nordenskiöld spent the summer studying the cliff dwellings, including Cliff Palace. He took many things he discovered in Mesa Verde to Finland. Some of Mesa Verde’s treasures are in the National Museum of Finland.</p> <p>Gustaf Nordenskiöld published a book called <em>The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde</em> in 1893.</p> <p>People who read the book became interested in Mesa Verde and the Ancestral Puebloans.</p> <p>Many people visited Mesa Verde. They included pothunters, archaeologists, and tourists. Cliff Palace was being destroyed by so many visitors. They took items from the site and damaged the area.</p> <h2>Archaeological Work and Preservation Efforts</h2> <p>People who cared about Mesa Verde wanted to make it a National Park to protect it. They helped to pass a law that people could not take items from the site.</p> <p>In 1906 Mesa Verde became a National Park. Many of the structures were in danger. They were falling and filled with rubble. Jesse Walter Fewkes, who worked for the US Government, came to Mesa Verde. His team did excavation, preservation, and repair work. From 1908 to 1922, they worked on cliff dwellings in the park. His team found artifacts, cleared rooms and kivas, and strengthened walls. They built a trail for visitors.</p> <p>In the 1930s, Cliff Palace was in desperate need of more repairs. The US government and private institutions funded programs to help fix it up. Earl Morris of the Carnegie Institution led a project at Cliff Palace in 1934. His team added concrete walls and repaired a four-story square tower. They made sure that any repairs they made were known. They wanted to be able to tell the difference between parts of the site that were original and those that had been restored.</p> <h2>Mapping Cliff Palace</h2> <p>In 1990 Mesa Verde was part of the “Save America’s Treasures” program. Larry Nordby, the site archeologist, made a new map of Cliff Palace. He discovered some interesting things. His map showed that Cliff Palace had only 150 rooms. An older map showed it had 217 rooms. He found that many of the rooms at Cliff Palace were used for storage. This showed that Cliff Palace might have been a warehouse. Nordby discovered a wall running through the center of Cliff Palace. It divided it into two parts. He believed that two different groups of people once lived there.</p> <h2>2015 Conservation and Stabilization Project</h2> <p>The 800-year-old Cliff Palace is unstable. It needs help to stay standing. Park officials keep people away from parts of Cliff Palace. They have limited the size of tour groups. They perform regular work to repair cracks and stabilize walls.</p> <p>In 2011 a wall collapsed in a kiva at Cliff Palace. Archaeologists found that the north half of Cliff Palace was built on firm rock. But, the south half sat on loose soil. The south half was slowly sliding downhill. This was causing cracks, falling walls, and other problems. Park staff performed repairs in 2015.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-8th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-8th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-8th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-8th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-8th-grade"><p>Cliff Palace is located on the east wall of Cliff Canyon in Mesa Verde National Park. It is a 150-room cliff dwelling built by Ancestral Puebloans in the 1200s. Rediscovered by ranchers in 1888, it is the largest and best-known cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde. It is also one of the most photographed structures on earth. Along with the rest of Mesa Verde, Cliff Palace was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1978.</p> <h2><strong>Construction and Use</strong></h2> <p>Cliff Palace and the other cliff dwellings were built by the Ancestral Puebloans, ancestors of today’s Pueblo people. They were built during the Pueblo III period (1150–1300 CE), when Mesa Verde residents began to move from mesa tops to cliff alcoves. It is believed they moved for greater protection. Cliff Palace had a population of around 150. It served as a center for the sixty smaller cliff dwellings nearby. The Mesa Verde site housed an estimated total of 625 people.</p> <p>Cliff Palace was built between about 1200 and 1275. Each family constructed its own kiva and room suite. The site grew to include 150 rooms and twenty-three kivas, which are circular pits dug into the ground. Kivas were used for social and spiritual gatherings, and might also be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Around each kiva were suites of small rooms. These made up a courtyard shared by an extended family or clan. Courtyards made up more than 75 percent of Cliff Palace. The rest of the site consisted of isolated kivas, rooms without nearby kivas, circular towers, great kivas, and other special-use spaces.</p> <p>The Ancestral Puebloans abandoned the Mesa Verde area at the end of the 1200s. They migrated to the south and southwest. The exact reasons for the migration remain unknown. Experts believe that the weather became colder and drier, and there may have been increased conflicts with other groups in the region. These problems made it hard for residents to survive.</p> <h2>Rediscovery in 1888</h2> <p>The Wetherill family were ranchers in the Mesa Verde area. On December 18, 1888, Richard Wetherill, Charles Mason and their Ute guide Acowitz were searching for cattle. They saw Cliff Palace for the first time. They explored it and discovered other cliff dwellings nearby. Richard Wetherill returned to the area during the winter to explore and dig for artifacts. He later sold the artifacts to the Colorado Historical Society.</p> <p>In 1891 the Wetherill brothers and Mason showed Mesa Verde to a Swedish scholar, Gustaf Nordenskiöld. Nordenskiöld spent the summer excavating cliff dwellings in the area, including Cliff Palace. The many artifacts he removed during his excavations are now housed at the National Museum of Finland.</p> <p>Gustaf Nordenskiöld published a book, <em>The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde</em>, in 1893. The book interested others in the area’s archaeology. The site saw increased visits from pothunters, amateur archaeologists, and tourists. With so much activity at the site, walls began to crack, buildings began to crumble, and artifacts were broken or stolen.</p> <p>In response, a movement developed in the early 1900s to make Mesa Verde a National Park. The government also passed the Antiquities Act (1906) to prevent looting and vandalism at prehistoric sites on public land.</p> <h2>Archaeological Work and Preservation Efforts</h2> <p>In 1906 the Mesa Verde area, including Cliff Palace, became a National Park. Most of the structures in the park were filled with debris. The site was in danger of collapsing. The National Park Service hired Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Bureau of American Ethnology to perform excavation, preservation, and repair work.</p> <p>From 1908 to 1922, Fewkes excavated and stabilized cliff dwellings at the park, including Cliff Palace. His team recovered artifacts, cleared rooms, courts, and terraces of debris, and strengthened walls. They built a new trail to make the site more accessible to visitors. Fewkes counted 217 rooms and twenty-three kivas at Cliff Palace. He believed it was the largest cliff dwelling in the United States.</p> <p>Since Fewkes’s time, most work at the park has focused on preservation. By the early 1930s, Cliff Palace was settling on its unstable foundations. It was in desperate need of repair. The Public Works Administration helped fund a program of surveying, mapping, and stabilization.</p> <p>Earl Morris of the Carnegie Institution led a 1934 project at Cliff Palace. The team added concrete retaining walls and repaired a four-story square tower. Morris started a new policy of documenting all repairs. This made it possible to tell the difference between parts that were original and parts that had been restored.</p> <h2>Mapping Cliff Palace</h2> <p>In the late 1990s, Mesa Verde received funding from the Save America’s Treasures program. The park’s chief archaeologist, Larry Nordby, made the first comprehensive map of Cliff Palace. Nordby’s map showed that Cliff Palace actually had 150 rooms, not the 217 Fewkes had counted. This made it the same size as Long House on nearby Wetherill Mesa.</p> <p>Nordby’s map and analysis showed other new details about life at Cliff Palace. Many of the rooms at the site were used primarily for storage. This indicated that Cliff Palace might have served as a central warehouse for other dwellings in the area. In addition, Nordby discovered a wall running through the center of the site. The wall divided Cliff Palace into two parts, suggesting a social organization based on two distinct groups.</p> <h2>2015 Conservation and Stabilization Project</h2> <p>The 800-year-old Cliff Palace has a variety of structural problems. Cliff House needs regular stabilization. Since the 1950s, visits to Mesa Verde National Park increased dramatically. Vibrations from foot traffic have caused the site to settle. To limit the damage, park officials have closed parts of the site and limited the size of tour groups. Park service staff performs regular maintenance to repair cracks and stabilize walls. Drainage for water seeping through the alcove roof has been improved.</p> <p>In 2011 a wall collapsed in one of the kivas (Kiva F). This led to an investigation of structural conditions at Cliff Palace. Archaeologists found that the north half of the site was built on firm bedrock. However, the south half sat on loose soil and debris that had fallen from the cliff wall. With no real foundation, the southern half of the site was slowly sliding downhill. This was causing cracks, falling walls, and other problems. Park staff developed a plan for a $450,000 preservation effort.&nbsp; Extensive repairs were performed in 2015. The conservation project closed Cliff Palace to the public in spring and fall 2015. It remained opened for tour groups that summer.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-10th-grade--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-10th-grade.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-10th-grade.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-10th-grade field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-field-10th-grade"><p>Cliff Palace is located on the east wall of Cliff Canyon in Mesa Verde National Park. It is a 150-room cliff dwelling built by Ancestral Puebloans in the 1200s. It was rediscovered by ranchers in 1888. Cliff Palace is the largest and best-known cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde, as well as one of the most photographed structures on earth. Along with the rest of Mesa Verde, Cliff Palace was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1978.</p> <h2>Construction and Use</h2> <p>Cliff Palace and the other cliff dwellings were built during the Pueblo III period (1150–1300 CE) of the Ancestral Puebloan tradition. Mesa Verde residents began to move from mesa tops to cliff alcoves, perhaps for greater protection. The site probably had a population of 150 or more. It served as an administrative center for the sixty smaller cliff dwellings nearby. The Mesa Verde site housed an estimated 625 people.</p> <p>Cliff Palace was built between about 1200 and 1275. Each family built its own kiva and room suite. The site grew to include 150 rooms and twenty-three kivas. Kivas are circular areas excavated into the ground. They were the central residential structures at Cliff Palace, and were used for residences and ritual gatherings. They could also be covered with a flat roof to make a small plaza. Around each kiva were suites of small rooms that made up a courtyard complex shared by an extended family or clan. These courtyard complexes made up more than 75 percent of Cliff Palace. The rest of the site consisted of isolated kivas, rooms without nearby kivas, circular towers, great kivas, and other special-use spaces.</p> <p>Like the rest of the Mesa Verde region, Cliff Palace was abandoned in the final decades of the 1200s. The Ancestral Puebloans migrated to the south and southwest. The exact reasons for the migration remain unknown. There is evidence that colder and drier weather, combined with increased conflict in the region, made it harder for residents to rely on traditional strategies for survival.</p> <h2>Rediscovery in 1888</h2> <p>Local rancher Al Wetherill and several others claimed to have seen Cliff Palace early in the 1880s. But credit for discovering it on December 18, 1888, is assigned to Al’s brother Richard and their brother-in-law, Charles Mason. The men were searching for cattle with their Ute guide Acowitz when they saw the structure. They explored it and also discovered other cliff dwellings nearby. Richard Wetherill returned to the area throughout the winter to explore and dig for artifacts. He later sold the artifacts to the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado).</p> <p>In 1891 the Wetherill brothers and Mason showed Mesa Verde to the visiting Swedish scholar Gustaf Nordenskiöld. He spent the summer excavating nearly two dozen cliff dwellings in the area, including Cliff Palace. The many artifacts he removed during his excavations are now housed at the National Museum of Finland.</p> <p>Gustaf Nordenskiöld published a book, <em>The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde</em>, in 1893. The book &nbsp;played a crucial role in stimulating interest in the area’s archaeology. Cliff Palace had already deteriorated in the six centuries since it had been abandoned. But the process of decay accelerated rapidly after its rediscovery. The site saw increased visitation from pothunters, amateur archaeologists, and tourists.</p> <p>In response, a movement developed in early 1900s to make Mesa Verde a National Park. The government also passed the Antiquities Act (1906) to prevent looting and vandalism at prehistoric sites on public land.</p> <h2>Archaeological Work and Preservation Efforts</h2> <p>In 1906 the Mesa Verde area, including Cliff Palace, became a National Park. Most of the structures in the park were still filled with debris and in danger of collapsing. The US Department of the Interior asked Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Bureau of American Ethnology to come to the park and perform excavation, preservation, and repair work.</p> <p>From 1908 to 1922, Fewkes excavated and stabilized cliff dwellings at the park, including Cliff Palace. His team recovered artifacts, cleared rooms, courts, and terraces of debris, strengthened walls, and built a new trail to make the site more accessible to visitors. Fewkes counted 217 rooms and twenty-three kivas at Cliff Palace, making it what was then believed to be the largest cliff dwelling in the United States.</p> <p>Since Fewkes’s time, most work at the park has focused on preservation. By the early 1930s, Cliff Palace was settling on its unstable foundations and in desperate need of repair. The Public Works Administration helped fund a program of surveying, mapping, and stabilization. Earl Morris of the Carnegie Institution led the 1934 project at Cliff Palace. The team added concrete retaining walls and repaired a four-story square tower. Morris implemented a new policy of documenting all repairs.&nbsp; This made it possible to tell the difference between the parts of the site that were original and those that had been restored. The 1934 project was also significant for marking the start of James “Al” Lancaster’s long career at Mesa Verde. He led the park’s stabilization crew for several decades.</p> <h2>Mapping Cliff Palace</h2> <p>In the late 1990s, Mesa Verde was one of the first recipients of funding from the Save America’s Treasures program. This program was launched by the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The park’s chief archaeologist, Larry Nordby, used part of the money to make the first comprehensive map of Cliff Palace. Nordby’s map showed that Cliff Palace actually had 150 rooms, not the 217 Fewkes had counted. This made it the same size as Long House on nearby Wetherill Mesa.</p> <p>Nordby’s map and analysis also revealed other new details about life at Cliff Palace. Many of the rooms at the site appear to have been used primarily for storage. This indicated that Cliff Palace might have served as a central warehouse and distribution center for other dwellings in the area. In addition, Nordby discovered a wall running through the center of the site. The wall divided Cliff Palace into two parts, suggesting a social organization based on two distinct groups.</p> <h2>2015 Conservation and Stabilization Project</h2> <p>The 800-year-old Cliff Palace has a variety of structural problems. These are exacerbated by frequent visitation and have required regular stabilization since the middle of the twentieth century. Since the 1950s, visitation to Mesa Verde National Park increased dramatically. Vibrations from foot traffic have caused loose material at the site to settle. To limit the damage, park officials have kept the public away from certain parts of the site and have limited the size of tour groups. They have also performed regular maintenance to repair cracks, stabilize walls, and improve drainage for water seeping through the alcove roof.</p> <p>Most recently, in 2011 a wall collapse in Kiva F led to a comprehensive investigation of structural conditions at Cliff Palace. Archaeologists found that the northern half of the site was built on firm bedrock, but the southern half sat on loose soil and debris that had fallen from the alcove ceiling. With no real foundation, the southern half of the site was slowly sliding downhill. This was causing cracks, falling walls, and other problems. Park staff developed a plan for a $450,000 preservation effort and performed extensive repairs before Memorial Day and after Labor Day in 2015. The conservation project closed Cliff Palace to the public in spring and fall 2015, but daily tours were conducted as usual during the summer.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Wed, 25 May 2016 20:48:51 +0000 yongli 1434 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org