This is another a place we tried to visit previously, but were deterred by the two government shutdowns. This was our final 2020 New Mexico stop and added another check mark to our bucket list. The morning after catching a hike and dinner in Silver City, we headed to the National Monument. We couldn’t understand how it could take 2 hours to travel less than 50 miles until we got onto Route 15. It’s a tight mountain road that you simply can’t rush. It was beautiful but it did take the full two hours each way. The place is in the middle of nowhere, although there are some people living just out side the park gate.
According to archaeologists, Indian tribes have periodically lived in the Gila River area for millennia. The cliff dwellings were built by the Puebloans in five existing caves in the rock face of what is now called Cliff Dwellers Canyon. They built and lived in the dwellings from about 1276 to about 1300 based on dating from the felled timber in the dwellings. Apparently they moved for unknown reasons – most likely drought. While they were there they built 46 rooms in the five caves that sheltered 10 to 15 families.
We were able to walk through many of the rooms – one of the only cliff dwellings in the US where you can do that. Our NPS guide explained how they lived and she talked about many of the artifacts that were recovered during excavations over the years. One thing that was unexpected was 700 year old corn cobs that were uncovered their “trash dump”. In addition to be hunters and gatherers, they were also pretty decent farmers.
Love these pictures and the narrative, Bill. Really interesting. The Petroglyphs are beautiful.
Wow! Beautiful pictures! So much of our buried but unknown to most of us American history, especially about the Indians… Thanks Bill for sharing.
P.S. I still owe you lunch…