Mesa Verde
National Park
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Mesa Verde protects the dwellings of Pueblo Indians who lived here from 700 AD
to 1300 AD. We visited in late October so only a few of the dwellings were
open. This is the Spruce Tree House right behind the Far View Visitors Center
and is open year round.
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You have to stop at the visitors center to get tour tickets for many of the
dwellings.
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This is the Cliff Palace, One of the few open while we were there. Each
sandstone block of these dwelling was hand shaped using a harder stone.
Over top of all this beautiful stone work they would put a form of plaster
to protect it.
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The entire area was vacated in the 1300s. Studies have shown there was a long
drought during this time period.
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In every one of the cracks in this canyon in the walls there are buildings. I
can't imagine how difficult it was to climb up and down these sheer cliffs all
the time just to get to your home. They had to lose the young and old on a
regular basis due to this climb.
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