When my mother and I were traveling in and around Flagstaff, Arizona, we spend a full day exploring some of the lesser-known monuments outside of the Grand Canyon. We spent a full day visiting a trio of National Monuments dedicated to preserving a series of ancient pueblo sites built by the Sinagua People over 1000 years ago.
Montezuma's Castle National Monument
The Aztecs never made their way as far north as Arizona, but when archaeologists and explorers stumbled across an ancient pueblo site in the early 19th century, they didn't know any better. Montezuma's Castle has absolutely nothing to do with Montezuma or the Aztecs, but it is one of the United States' best-preserved ancient sites.
Today, Montezuma's Castle is protected as a National Monument.
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| artifacts on display at the visitor's center museum |
The "Castle" is really a spectacularly-preserved cliff-side pueblo dwelling. It is located around 90 feet up on a sheer cliff face, and is made up of around 60 rooms. Since the 1950s, the dwelling has been protected by the National Park Service, and is off limits to visitors. The park continues to maintain the structure in order to preserve it in its current state.
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| Montezuma's Castle |
A model at the park displays what the dwelling looks like beneath the face of the cliff. It was once a thriving and vibrant community, but was mysteriously abandoned around 800 years ago.
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| a model of what the pueblo site looks like beneath the surface of the cliff |
The national monument is situated on a beautiful piece of land south of Flagstaff. The people who once lived there had access to fresh water, food, and plenty of trees. Nobody knows why they abandoned the site. Maybe there were threats from neighboring communities. Maybe there was a drought or another ecological problem.
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| beautiful scenery at the national monument |
Whatever the reason, they left behind numerous artifacts and this beautiful and fascinating historical treasure which is now preserved as Montezuma's Castle National Monument.
Montezuma's Well National Monument
Montezuma's Well National Monument was just ten minutes away by car. The Well, like the Castle, was not built by the Aztecs. In fact, I guess it's fair to say that Montezuma's Well was built by a fluke of geography!
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| Montezuma's Well |
An ancient sinkhole, which formed thousands of years ago, provided shelter to the local Sinagua who built their pueblos as cliff dwellings in the walls of the cliff surrounding the sinkhole. The water in the sinkhole itself is poisonous (with high levels of CO2 and arsenic) and no fish live in it, but was useful for irrigation. A nearby freshwater stream provided plenty of safe water to drink.
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| the pueblos are built around an ancient sinkhole |
Unfortunately, before it was managed by the National Park Service, the area surrounding Montezuma's Well wasn't always properly looked after. A piece of graffiti from 1818 shows that lack of respect for historical landmarks isn't a new phenomenon. This painted inadvertent for a Phoenix photo studio is now over 200 years old, and is still clearly visible.
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| early 19th century graffiti |
The local area surrounding Montezuma's Well is beautiful as well. The sprawling Verde Valley offers views for miles in all directions. It must have been a very safe and well-secluded place to live, and the people who made their homes there could remain more or less hidden while still being able to spot danger from far off.
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| the area surrounding the well |
A few crumbling ruins of other pueblo sites can still be identified surrounding Montezuma's Well, although like the castle, it was abandoned nearly 800 years ago.
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| remains of other pueblos near the well |
Down below, near the fresh water river, stands a massive sycamore tree. Nobody's sure quite how old it is, although it's believed to be the biggest sycamore in Arizona, and possibly the biggest in North America! This doesn't have anything to do with the Sinagua or Montezuma's Well, but it's an interesting fact!
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| Arizona's largest sycamore tree |
Tuzigoot National Monument
After lunch we continued on to Tuzigoot National Monument, about another hour away south of Sedona.
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| purple cacti at Tuzigoot |
Tuzigoot may the most impressive pre-Columbian site in the United States. This ancient city was once made up of over 100 houses, though like the previous two sites, it has been abandoned for nearly a millennium.
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| desert scenery near the national monument |
When we visited the National Monument, we began by exploring a little museum at the visitor's center. The museum held a wonderful collection of artifacts, all dating back at least a thousand years. To me, the most impressive items weren't the arrowheads or pottery shards, but the little wooden horses made up of bundled sticks. I guess the desert is so dry that these 4000 year-old figures never fell apart.
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| artifacts from Tuzigoot on display at the visitor's center |
Tuzigoot isn't the real name of the site. In fact, nobody knows what the ancient city was really called. During the archaeological expedition, a local Native American worker suggested the Apache name "Tuzigoot", which means "Crooked Water". The site became a national monument in 1939, and is considered to be one of the best-preserved ancient historical sites in the country.
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| Tuzigoot - an ancient city in northern Arizona |
The most amazing part of Tuzigoot is how well-hidden it is as a ruin. Unlike many other ancient pueblo sites, it was never plundered by treasure hunters or unscrupulous archaeologists during the 19th century. The ruins are almost invisible from far away, and so the site is a rich source of ancient artifacts which tell us a lot about the Sinagua People who used to live there.
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| the city was made up of over 100 individual homes |
Like the other sites, it was mysteriously abandoned 1000 years ago.
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| nobody knows why Tuzigoot was abandoned nearly a thousand years ago |
We spent some time hiking amongst the ruins of the ancient city.
In a place like this, you can't help but wonder what life must have been like for the ancient people who once inhabited these pueblos.
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| exploring the ancient city |
I love history, and places like Tuzigoot,
Ayutthaya, or
Angkor Wat are endlessly fascinating to me. I love being able to walk around and touch real pieces of history.
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| Tuzigoot National Monument outside of Flagstaff and Sedona |
Somehow, being able to explore an ancient ruin site just makes it all seem more real. It just helps to feel a bit more connected to the ancient people who lived on our planet so long ago.
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