In July of 2021, on an epic cross country trip, Cory and I decided we would stop and check out Mesa Verda National Park in Colorado. Cory seemed particularly excited about this stop, but I wasn't sure. He tried to explain about cliff dwellings and ancestral Pueblo, Navajo and Ute Native Americans. He tried to tell me that it would change my perception of native architecture, but to be honest I was skeptical. I told him we had seen cliff dwellings in Arizona canyons when moving to California back in 2017, he kept assuring me this would be better.
When you arrive at the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park, you are struck by the large flat topped mountains and buttes all around. A mesa is defined as a flat topped mountain, in fact. There is a long winding road to the top of the mountain, which is then cleft in two by a wide ravine, forming a sort of canyon. The most prominent site on the drive up is Point Lookout, a large butte which kind of guides visitors to Mesa Verde.
When we reached the top of the mesa we headed straight for the main attraction, the Cliff Palace. It really did look like a palace, it was an impressive composite structure built within a cavern halfway up a cliff face. Typically, tourists are allowed to go down and walk around the Cliff Palace, however COVID. We weren't aloud to go down because the trail was apparently too narrow and would force people to come in close proximity to one another. Oh well just another place we will have to go back to.
The Cliff Palace, at different angles seemed to get larger and have more facets that we hadn't noticed before. From the above angle it looks as though the buildings seem to go on forever into the cave. The Cliff Palace was only part of the larger site though, all around the Canyon we could spot various cliff dwelling outcrops or suburbs.
As we drove and walked around the park, we came across some other ancient housing developments. The first was described on a marker as being sort of a dug out pit, which would then have had branches and leaves strewn across for shelter. I suppose the reason for digging the pit was to make use of the cooler ground temperatures, in the blazing heat of the southwest. The other was more akin to a pueblo structure. Both of these types of foundations were found on top of the mesa, and we learned that they predate the Cliff Palace. We also learned that the Cliff Palace and surrounding area was largely abandoned before any Europeans reached the site. It was explained that possible reasons for this are climate fluctuations or communicable diseases from Europeans spreading in advance of the actual colonists.
Regardless, the building capabilities of the people who lived here is quite impressive and they have forever changed my conception of what pre-colonial settlements look like. I am glad we stopped to see this, even if we couldn't get as close as I wanted to, to the Cliff Palace. Definitely worth the trip to Cortez, Colorado for this National Park.
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