Mesa Verde National Park is a United States national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. It is the only World Heritage Site in Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan ancestral sites in the United States.

Established by Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, the park covers 52,485 acres (212 km) near the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. With more than 5,000 sites, including 600 cliff dwellings, it is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States. The name "Mesa Verde" means "green table" or "green table mountain" in Spanish. The park is best known for structures like Cliff Palace, one of the largest cliff dwellings in North America.

Around 7500 BC, Mesa Verde was seasonally inhabited by a group of nomadic Paleo-Indians called the Foothills Mountain Complex. The different types of projectile points found in the area show they were influenced by nearby regions, including the Great Basin, the San Juan Basin, and the Rio Grande Valley. Later, Archaic people built semi-permanent rock shelters in and around the mesa. By 1000 BC, the Basketmaker culture developed from the local Archaic population. By 750 AD, the Ancestral Puebloans emerged from the Basketmaker culture.

The Pueblo people used hunting, gathering, and farming to survive. They grew crops such as corn, beans, and squash, known as the "Three Sisters." They built the first pueblos on the mesa sometime after 650 AD. By the end of the 12th century, they began constructing the large cliff dwellings for which the park is famous. By 1285, after a period of social and environmental challenges caused by long, severe droughts, the people moved south to areas in Arizona and New Mexico, including the Rio Chama, the Albuquerque Basin, the Pajarito Plateau, and the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Inhabitants

The first people to live in the Mesa Verde region, which covers parts of southeastern Utah and northwestern New Mexico, were nomadic Paleo-Indians. They arrived around 9500 BC and followed large animals, camping near rivers and streams. Many of these water sources dried up as glaciers in the San Juan Mountains melted. The earliest groups in this area were the Clovis culture and Folsom tradition, known for the way they shaped stone tools called projectile points. Evidence of their presence is found throughout the region, but there is little sign they lived in central Mesa Verde during this time.

After 9600 BC, the climate became warmer and drier, bringing pine forests and animals that lived in them to central Mesa Verde. Around 7500 BC, more Paleo-Indians began living in the area, though it is unclear if they stayed there year-round or only visited seasonally. The invention of the atlatl, a tool that helped hunters throw spears farther, made it easier to hunt smaller animals. This was important because many large animals had disappeared from the region.

The Archaic period began in North America around 6000 BC. Scientists disagree about where the people who lived in Mesa Verde during this time came from. Some believe they were descendants of local Paleo-Indians, while others think they were influenced by people from nearby areas like the Great Basin, San Juan Basin, and Rio Grande Valley. The Archaic people likely lived in the region for a long time but also interacted with outsiders through trade and marriage.

Early Archaic people near Mesa Verde used the atlatl and gathered more types of plants and animals than the Paleo-Indians had. They lived in the outer parts of the Mesa Verde region, as well as in mountains, on mesa tops, and in canyons. They built rock shelters and created rock art, and they left signs of hunting and making tools from a type of stone called chert. As the environment became more stable, more people moved into the area. Between 5000 and 2500 BC, major changes in climate may have caused people to move to Mesa Verde, where the cooler, higher elevation provided more water from snow and spring rains.

By the late Archaic period, people lived in semi-permanent rock shelters and stored items like baskets, sandals, and mats. They made small figurines that looked like sheep or deer. Trade increased during this time, bringing materials like obsidian and turquoise to Mesa Verde. Shells from the Pacific coast were also found in the region, used to make jewelry. Rock art became more common, and people built simple houses made of mud and wood. Early attempts to grow plants eventually led to farming, which marked the end of the Archaic period around 1000 BC.

Around 1000 BC, corn was introduced to the Mesa Verde region, and people began moving away from a nomadic lifestyle to build permanent homes called pithouses. These people, known as the Basketmaker culture, combined hunting and farming. They made finely woven baskets but did not use clay pots. By 300 AD, corn became the main food in their diet, and they relied less on wild plants and animals.

Basketmaker II people made many household items from plants and animals, including sandals, robes, and blankets. They also created clay pipes and games. Their skeletons show signs of hard work, such as joint problems and broken bones. They buried their dead near their homes and sometimes included valuable items in the graves, which may have shown differences in social status. They also made rock art, often showing animals and people, including a figure called Kokopelli, who is known to the Hopi as a hunchbacked flute player.

By 500 AD, the atlatl was replaced by the bow and arrow, and baskets were replaced by clay pots. This marked the end of the Basketmaker II era and the start of the Basketmaker III era. Clay pots were better for storing water and protecting seeds from pests. By 600 AD, people used clay pots to cook food. Year-round homes appeared around this time, and the population in the San Juan Basin grew. By the early 700s, many Basketmaker III settlements were found in Mesa Verde. Villages usually had one to three homes, and the population in Mesa Verde was about 1,000 to 1,500 people.

New types of corn and beans were introduced around 700 AD. By 775 AD, some settlements had more than 100 people, and large storage buildings were built to hold food. People tried to store enough food for a year but still moved homes if resources ran out. By the late 700s, larger villages were built, and people lived there for up to two generations. Basketmaker III people held big ceremonies near community pits.

The Basketmaker III era ended around 750 AD, and the Pueblo I period began. People started building larger homes called pueblos and stored food for two years instead of one. They moved many activities from underground pit-houses to above-ground homes, though pit-houses were still used for ceremonies. During the late 700s, people built square pit structures called proto kivas, which were used for gatherings.

The first pueblos appeared in Mesa Verde after 650 AD. By 850 AD, more than half of the Pueblo people lived in these homes. As populations grew, people relied more on corn and less on hunting and foraging. This shift to a more settled lifestyle changed Pueblo society. Settlements grew from having 1–3 homes to 15–20 homes, with about 200 people living in each. The population became much denser, with many people living close together.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mesa Verde National Park has a dry-summer humid continental climate (Dsa). The United States Department of Agriculture states that the Plant Hardiness zone at Mesa Verde National Park Headquarters, located at an elevation of 6,952 feet (2,119 meters), is 6b. This zone has an average annual extreme minimum temperature of −0.1 °F (−17.8 °C).

The region’s precipitation pattern has two main seasons. Snow and rain fall in winter and autumn, while rain occurs in spring and summer. Farmers and residents used water from summer rains, winter snow, and natural water sources like seeps and springs near the Mesa Verde villages. At an elevation of 7,000 feet (2,100 meters), the middle parts of the mesas were usually 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5 °C) cooler than the top of the mesas, which helped reduce the amount of water needed for farming.

The cliff dwellings were built to use solar energy. In winter, the sun’s angle warmed the building materials, and warm air came from the valley. The air in canyon alcoves was 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit (5–10 °C) warmer than on the top of the mesa. In summer, the high cliff dwellings protected much of the village from direct sunlight.

Anthropogenic ecology and geography

Anthropogenic ecology describes how humans affect plants and animals in an ecosystem. Between the mid-10th and mid-13th centuries, a change from larger animals like deer, bighorn sheep, and antelope to smaller ones such as rabbits and turkeys may show that Pueblonian hunting practices greatly changed animal populations on the mesa. Studies of pack rat middens suggest that, except for non-native plants like tumbleweed and clover, the plants and animals in the area have stayed mostly the same for about 4,000 years.

According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. Potential Natural Vegetation Types, Mesa Verde National Park has a Juniper/Pinyon (23) potential vegetation type with a Great Basin montane forest/Southwest Forest (4) potential vegetation form.

Mesa Verde's canyons were formed by streams that wore away the hard sandstone covering the area. This process created elevations in Mesa Verde National Park ranging from about 6,000 to 8,572 feet (1,829 to 2,613 m), with the highest point at Park Point. The park’s terrain now serves as a transition zone between the low desert plateaus and the Rocky Mountains.

Geology

The first Spanish explorers named the area Mesa Verde, but this name is incorrect because true mesas are nearly flat. Mesa Verde slopes toward the south, so the correct geological term is "cuesta." The park includes several smaller cuestas located between canyons. The slope of Mesa Verde helped create alcoves that protected the area's cliff dwellings.

During the late Cretaceous Period, layers of Mancos Shale were placed on top of the Dakota Sandstone, a rock layer found under much of Colorado. The Mancos Shale consists of fine-grained sandstone, mudstone, and shale that formed in deep water of the Cretaceous Sea. Its high clay content causes it to expand when wet, leading to land sliding. Above this shale are three rock layers in the Mesaverde group, showing changes in the environment over time.

The first layer is the Point Lookout Sandstone, named after a feature in the park at 8,427 feet (2,569 meters). This sandstone formed in shallow water as the Cretaceous Sea receded. It is thick, made of small particles, with layers that show wave and current patterns. It is about 400 feet (100 meters) thick, and its upper layers contain fossils of ancient sea creatures.

Next is the Menefee Formation, which includes layers of carbon-rich shale, siltstone, and sandstone. These formed in brackish water environments like swamps and lagoons. Organic material in this layer created thin coal seams. The Cliff House Sandstone, the youngest layer, covers the Menefee Formation.

The Cliff House Sandstone formed after the Cretaceous Sea disappeared, with high sand content from beaches and dunes. This gives it a yellow color on canyon walls. It is about 400 feet (100 meters) thick and contains fossils of shells, fish teeth, and other sea creatures. The shale layers here helped form alcoves where Ancestral Puebloans built homes.

During the Cretaceous Period and into the early Tertiary Period, the Colorado Plateau, San Juan Mountains, and La Plata Mountains rose due to uplift. This, along with erosion, created the Mesa Verde pediment. Water channels carried gravel across this area. Later, uplift and rock tilting toward the south caused streams to cut deeply into the rock, forming large canyons. This isolated the Mesa Verde pediment from surrounding rock. Today, drier conditions slow these erosion processes.

Rediscovery

In 1776, Mexican-Spanish missionaries and explorers Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante searched for a route from Santa Fe to California. They carefully recorded their journey through the Mesa Verde region, which they named for its high, tree-covered plateaus. However, they did not get close enough to see the ancient stone villages. They were the first Europeans to travel through much of the Colorado Plateau into Utah and back through Arizona to New Mexico.

The Mesa Verde region has been home to the Ute people for a long time. An 1868 treaty between the Ute and the United States government recognized Ute ownership of all land in Colorado west of the Continental Divide. Later, in 1873, a new treaty left the Ute with a strip of land in southwestern Colorado between the border with New Mexico and 15 miles north. Most of Mesa Verde lies within this area. The Ute people found a place to live safely during winter on the high plateaus of Mesa Verde. They believed the cliff dwellings were sacred ancestral sites and did not live in them.

Occasionally, trappers and prospectors visited the region. In 1873, a prospector named John Moss shared his observations about the area. The next year, Moss led photographer William Henry Jackson through Mancos Canyon, near Mesa Verde. Jackson took photographs of a typical stone cliff dwelling and shared them with the public. In 1875, geologist William H. Holmes retraced Jackson’s route. Reports from Jackson and Holmes were included in the 1876 Hayden Survey, one of four government-funded studies of the American West. These reports inspired proposals to study Southwestern archaeological sites more systematically.

In 1882 and 1885, journalist Virginia McClurg from the New York Daily Graphic visited Mesa Verde to find Ancestral Puebloan settlements. Her group rediscovered Echo Cliff House, Three Tier House, and Balcony House in 1885. These trips inspired her to protect the dwellings and artifacts.

A family of cattle ranchers, the Wetherills, became friends with members of the Ute tribe near their ranch in southwestern Colorado. With the Ute tribe’s permission, the Wetherills brought cattle to the lower, warmer plateaus of the Ute reservation during winter. Stories about the Ancestral Puebloan great houses had spread, and a Ute man named Acowitz told the Wetherills about a special cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde: "Deep in that canyon and near its head are many houses of the old people – the Ancient Ones. One of those houses, high in the rocks, is bigger than all the others. Utes never go there; it is a sacred place."

On December 18, 1888, Richard Wetherill and cowboy Charlie Mason rediscovered Cliff Palace after seeing ruins from the top of Mesa Verde. Wetherill gave the ruin its current name. Richard Wetherill and his family explored the ruins and collected artifacts, some of which they sold to the Historical Society of Colorado and others they kept. Among those who explored with the Wetherills was Frederick H. Chapin, a mountaineer, photographer, and author. He described the landscape and ruins in an 1890 article and later in a book published in 1892, The Land of the Cliff-Dwellers, which included hand-drawn maps and photographs.

The Wetherills also hosted Gustaf Nordenskiöld, the son of polar explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, in 1891. Nordenskiöld was a trained mineralogist who used scientific methods to collect artifacts, recorded their locations, took many photographs, and created diagrams of the sites. He compared his findings with existing archaeological studies and the knowledge of the Wetherills. He sent many artifacts to Sweden, where they eventually went to the National Museum of Finland. In 1893, Nordenskiöld published The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde. When Nordenskiöld sent the collection of Mesa Verde artifacts to Sweden, it raised concerns about the need to protect the land and its resources.

National park

In 1889, Goodman Point Pueblo became the first pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Mesa Verde region to receive federal protection. It was the first site in the United States to be protected in this way. Between 1887 and 1906, Virginia McClurg worked hard to tell the United States and Europe about the importance of protecting historical materials and homes in Mesa Verde. Her efforts included getting support from 250,000 women through the Federation of Women's Clubs, writing and publishing poems in popular magazines, giving speeches in the United States and other countries, and forming the Colorado Cliff Dwellers Association.

The Colorado Cliff Dwellers Association aimed to protect the resources of Colorado’s cliff dwellings, recover as many original artifacts as possible, and share information about the people who lived there. Another activist who helped protect Mesa Verde and prehistoric sites was Lucy Peabody. From Washington, D.C., she met with members of Congress to support the cause. Robert Heyder, a former superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park, believed the park could have been more important if hundreds of artifacts taken by Nordenskiöld had remained there.

By the end of the 19th century, it was clear that Mesa Verde needed protection from people who visited and took or sold artifacts. In a report to the Secretary of the Interior, Smithsonian Institution Ethnologist Jesse Walter Fewkes described damage to Mesa Verde’s Cliff Palace.

Many artifacts from Mesa Verde are now in museums and private collections in the United States and other countries. For example, a selection of pottery and other objects is in the British Museum in London. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt approved the creation of Mesa Verde National Park and the Federal Antiquities Act of 1906. The park was created to "preserve the works of man" and was the first park in the United States to protect a place of cultural importance. The name "Mesa Verde" comes from the Spanish term for "green table," referring to the area’s juniper and piñon trees.

In 1976, 8,500 acres (3,440 hectares) of Mesa Verde was designated a wilderness area. These three small, separate sections of the National Park are on the steep north and east boundaries and help protect important Native American sites. Unlike most wilderness areas, visitors are not allowed to enter Mesa Verde Wilderness or other parts of the park’s backcountry.

Between 1908 and 1922, Spruce Tree House, Cliff Palace, and Sun Temple ruins were stabilized. Early efforts were led by Jesse Walter Fewkes. In the 1930s and 1940s, Civilian Conservation Corps workers, starting in 1932, helped with excavations, built trails and roads, created museum exhibits, and constructed buildings at Mesa Verde. From 1958 to 1965, the Wetherill Mesa Archaeological Project included excavations, site stabilization, and surveys. The project studied eleven Wetherill Mesa sites and is considered the largest archaeological effort in the United States. The project included excavations of Long House and Mug House.

In 1966, Mesa Verde was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, just like other historical areas managed by the National Park Service. In 1987, the Mesa Verde Administrative District was also listed on the register. Mesa Verde became a World Heritage Site in 1978. In 2015, Sunset magazine named Mesa Verde National Park "the best cultural attraction" in the Western United States.

Conflicts between non-Indigenous environmentalists and local tribes near Mesa Verde began before the park was officially established. In 1911, the U.S. government wanted to take more land for the park that belonged to the Ute Indians. The Utes did not want to trade the land they owned for other land, saying the land they had was the best they had. Frederick Abbott, working with an Indian Office official named James McLaughlin, claimed the government had the right to take land with ruins for public use. Feeling they had no choice, the Utes agreed to trade 10,000 acres (40 square kilometers) on Chapin Mesa for 19,500 acres (79 square kilometers) on Ute Mountain.

The Utes continued to fight the Bureau of Indian Affairs to stop more land from being added to the park. In 1935, the BIA tried to take back some of the land traded in 1911. Later, a park superintendent named Jesse L. Nusbaum admitted the Ute Mountain land traded in 1911 had always belonged to the Ute tribe, meaning the government had traded land that was never theirs to begin with.

Other issues unrelated to land disputes also arose. In the 1920s, the park started offering "Indian ceremony" performances for tourists. However, these ceremonies did not reflect the traditions of the ancient Puebloans or the modern Ute people. Navajo workers performed the rituals, leading to questions about whether the right people were doing the right dances on the right land. Some people also questioned if Navajo workers were paid fairly and why few local American Indians were employed in other roles at the park. The Ute Mountain Ute people received little financial benefit from the land swap that made much of the park possible.

The entrance to Mesa Verde National Park is on U.S. Route 160, about 9 miles (14 kilometers) east of Cortez and 7 miles (11 kilometers) west of Mancos, Colorado. The park covers 52,485 acres (21,240 hectares) and has 4,372 documented sites, including more than 600 cliff dwellings. It is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States and protects some

Key sites

Mesa Verde has many ruins on top of the mesas, in addition to the cliff dwellings. Examples open to the public include the Far View Complex and Cedar Tree Tower on Chapin Mesa, and Badger House Community on Wetherill Mesa.

Balcony House is located on a high ledge facing east. It has 45 rooms and two kivas. During winter, the house would have been cold. Visitors on ranger-guided tours climb a 32-foot (10-meter) ladder and crawl through a 12-foot (4-meter) tunnel to enter. The exit, which includes small toe-holds in a cliff, was likely the only way in and out. This made the village easy to defend. A log found there dates to 1278, suggesting the house was built not long before the Mesa Verde people left the area. Balcony House was officially excavated in 1910 by Jesse L. Nusbaum, who was the first National Park Service archeologist and one of the first Superintendents of Mesa Verde National Park. Visitors can only enter Balcony House through a ranger-guided tour, which involves climbing ladders and crawling through a tunnel.

• Balcony House tour: (1) climb a 32-foot (10-meter) ladder, (2) crawl through a 12-foot (4-meter) tunnel, (3–5) climb up a 60-foot (18-meter) cliff face to exit
• Emmett Harryson, a Navajo, at a T-shaped doorway at Balcony House (1929)

This multi-storied ruin, the best-known cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde, is located in the largest alcove on the Great Mesa. It faced south and southwest, which helped keep it warm during winter. Built more than 700 years ago, the dwelling uses sandstone, wooden beams, and mortar. Many rooms were painted brightly. Cliff Palace was home to about 125 people but was likely part of a larger community of sixty nearby pueblos, which together housed more than 600 people. With 23 kivas and 150 rooms, Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park.

Long House, located on Wetherill Mesa, is the second-largest Pueblo village. About 150 people lived there. It was excavated from 1959 to 1961 as part of the Wetherill Mesa Archaeological Project. Built around 1200, it was occupied until 1280. The cliff dwelling has 150 rooms, a kiva, a tower, and a central plaza. Its rooms are not grouped like typical cliff dwellings. Stones were used without shaping for fit and stability. Two overhead ledges have storage space for grain. One ledge includes an overlook with small holes in the wall to view the village below. A spring is nearby, and seeps are found in the rear of the village.

Mug House is on Wetherill Mesa and has 94 rooms, a large kiva, and a nearby reservoir. It was named after four mugs found by Charles Mason and the Wetherill brothers. Oak Tree House and the nearby Fire Temple can be visited on a two-hour ranger-guided hike. Spruce Tree House is the third-largest village, located near a spring, and had 130 rooms and eight kivas. It was built between 1211 and 1278. It is believed that 60 to 80 people lived there at one time. Its location helped protect it, and it is well preserved. A short trail to Spruce Tree House starts at the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum. The Square Tower House is one of the stops on the Mesa Top Loop Road driving tour. The tower is the tallest structure in Mesa Verde.