Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mesa Verde National Park hosts the more than 700-year-old cliff dwellings of ancient pueblo people. The dwellings
wisely face south-southwest to keep scorching summer rays out but welcome low winter sun.
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Mesa Verde National Park
More than 700years have passed since the ancient pueblo peoples occupied cliffdwellings
along Mesa Verde's precipitous walls. Even so, when visiting crowds dissipate in late au-
tumn and snow dusts the distant peaks, you can almost sense the presence of “the Ancient
Ones,” the name given to them by the Navajos. One imagines these cliff-dwelling people
shapingpots,harvestingcornandstoringitinpreparation forwinter,telling firesidestories
passeddownfromtheirancestors,orchantingprayersfromthedepthsofceremonialkivas.
The dwellings were first discovered in 1888 when two ranchers, Richard Wetherill and
Charlie Mason, set off in a snowstorm in search of cattle that had strayed away. They
stumbledinsteadupontheperfectlypreservedCliffPalace—alargedwellingthatwasonce
the home of more than 200 ancient pueblo people. The next day, they found Spruce Tree
House,namingitforthetreethatgrewbesidetheruin,andSquareTowerHouse,thetallest
structure in the park.
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