Montezuma Castle National Monument is located off I-17 just north of Camp Verde, Arizona and approximately 50 miles south of Flagstaff, Arizona. In addition to the Sinagua dwellings that are on the site, there is a visitors' center with exhibits on the prehistoric Sinagua who lived in the region.
Managers of the monument, now a registered historic landmark, are eager to present the best educational experience possible to the public. Since the exhibit area was designed and completed in 1960 and is somewhat outdated, monument personnel will be gutting the exhibit area within the next year (2000-2001) and installing new exhibits that have been updated factually. Although the designers will incorporate few new materials in the exhibits, they will more cautiously approach subjects that are sensitive to Native Americans. There will also be a new emphasis on the ethno-botanical aspects of the area and the general life style of the occupants of the dwelling.
Even casual visitors stand to learn a great deal about early area residents by visiting the site. Serious researchers who wish to get additional information are advised to contact the Western Archeological and Conservation Center's professional librarian, Johanna Alexander (520-570-6501, ext. 245). If they want to have access to special, perhaps sensitive, documents at Montezuma Castle, researchers should obtain clearance by contacting the Chief Ranger or Superintendent (520-567-5276) two to five business days prior to their visit.
The monument is extremely popular. It is open 365 days a year, and, along with Montezuma Well, it gets approximately 900,000 visitors a year, including 5,000 tour busses, many of which are chartered for foreign visitors who have come to see the American West.
History of the area
The Verde Valley has been home to a series of Native Americans since at least 600 CE. The first to take up permanent residence in the area were the Hohokam, farmers who used irrigation to grow a variety of crops including corn, beans, squash and cotton. It appears that they moved north in the mid 1000s.
The southern branch of the Sinagua were a peaceful group that hunted, gathered, and farmed. They had lived in the nearby foothills since approximately 700 CE and moved into in the Verde Valley after the Hohokam left. Originally dry farmers (they did not irrigate their crops), they adapted the Hohokam system of irrigation after they settled in the Valley. At the same time, they expanded their communities, building larger pueblos.
By about 1300, several groups had built their homes along the banks of Beaver Creek. It was an ideal location; water, plants and animals were plentiful there. In this area one finds the dwellings now known as Montezuma Castle; they were home to about 50 people.
The Sinagua are not known for their pottery, but they were skilled weavers. They also made beautiful personal items, sometimes using materials they had acquired through trade with other groups ranging from their northern and eastern neighbors to those living along the Gulf of California. In exchange for shells and items like turquoise, the Sinagua offered cotton and salt, a commodity they mined near present-day Camp Verde.
Evidence indicates that the Sinagua maintained a lively culture in the Verde Valley until the early 1400s. Then they seem to have disappeared. Researchers have not yet discovered why they moved away. They may have depleted the natural resources, or succumbed to drought, disease or conflict with neighbors. One thing is certain. They were not in the area when the Spanish came to the Verde Valley in 1583. The Yavapai then occupied the Verde Valley.
History of the Monument
Montezuma Castle was the name erroneously assigned by early Euro-Americans to a grouping of magnificent cliff dwellings in the Verde Valley. Those same dwellings attracted the attention of Theodore Roosevelt and his associates who were interested in preserving wilderness areas and other vulnerable physical artifacts for present and future citizens of the United States.
Because of its unique qualities, Montezuma Castle was among the first archeological sites established under the provisions of the Antiquities Act on December 8, 1906. Other sites included Devil's Post Pile (Wyoming), Aztec Ruins, and Casa Grande.
Initially, the General Land Office did little to protect or preserve any of these sites, but in 1916, Special Agent W. L. Lewis drew attention to the fact that the structures were disintegrating. In 1919 Frank Pinkley, who had been working on the structures at Casa Grande, became involved in the Montezuma Castle project. It was difficult to obtain money for such endeavors in the 1920s, but they were able to do some reconstruction and stabilization work in that decade. Despite the fact that additional stabilization has been done periodically since then, the cliff dwellings we now see are about 90% original.
At Montezuma Castle, there are two structures. The upper structure is located in an alcove on the cliff wall. It has five stories and twenty rooms. A lower section has 45 rooms. Builders used local sycamores for roof beams and limestone and rubble for the walls.
In close proximity to a nearby natural well known as Montezuma Well are several pithouses and two pueblo-type structures.
Archeologists have found many artifacts in the area, including human remains, potsherds, animal figurines, ornaments, and tools, projectile points as well as fibers and fabrics. Very few of these artifacts are located at the monument. Many sensitive items, such as those found in burial areas, have been repatriated according to NAGPRA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Public Law 101-601, enacted in 1990.
WACC of the National Park Service Office serves as the conservation center for most of the western United States. Of the artifacts retained by the Parks Service, those items that are not on display at Montezuma Castle are probably stored in Tucson.
Books Montezuma Castle National Monument has an extensive collection of printed materials; some are popular in nature while others are more academic. There are some government documents describing stabilization and management of this and other significant structures. Most are for general consumption, but a few are considered to contain more sensitive material.
Artifacts located at Montezuma Castle National Monument in 2000:
I. Structures
Buildings
Upper Cliff dwelling; five-story structure; 20 rooms; cliff wall and limestone outer walls
Lower Cliff dwelling; five-story structure; 45 rooms
Building components, Indian
Lighting Device, Indian
Torch, juniper bark
Temperature Control Device, Indian
Hearth, fire drill
II. Building Furnishings, Indian
Rug, Navajo "Chiefs Blanket,"
III. Personal artifacts, Indian
Personal Adornment, Indian
Beads, sting of small black stone beads
Pendant, copy, turquoise mosaic over wood (2)
Pendant, stone, red
Personal Clothing, Indian
Sandal, twined yucca
Personal Gear, Indian
Basket, modern Apache basket tray
Basket, modern Hopi (2)
Basket, modern Papago
Basket, modern Pima basket (2)
Basket, small coil basket
Basket, twilled yucca
Pipe, clay
IV. Tools and equipment for materials, Indian
Food Processing T&E, Indian
Metate, volcanic
Mano, sandstone
Food Service T&E, Indian
Ladle, pottery
Olla, utility ware
Pitcher, redware
Musical T&E, Indian
Flute
Whistle, bone
Painting T&E
Gourd jug, yucca fiber stopper, containing pigment in powder form
Paint palette
Paint stone
Textileworking T&E
Awl, bone (3)
Batten, wood
Needle, bone
Needle, yucca leaf
Spindle whorl (2)
Spool, fired clay
Multiuse T&E, Indian
Axe (4)
Axe handle
Doughnut stone
Knife blade, flint
Knife, bone
Mortar, vesicular basalt (for grinding paint or medicinal herbs)
Paddle, wooden
Rope, yucca
Smoother, stone (2)
Stone, flattened oval with hold
Stone, rubbing, igneous
Stopper or anvil, sandstone
Whetstone, sandstone
V. Tools and Equipment for Science and Technology
Armament T&E, Indian
Arrow, foreshaft (2)
Arrowshaft of reed grass
Projectile points (5)
VI. Tools and Equipment for Communication, Indian
Art, Indian
Effigy, dog, fired clay
Figurine, clay
Miniature clay cradleboard
Miniature ladle
Miniature, pottery bowl
Miniature, pottery olla
Ceremonial, Indian
Kachina, mountain sheep
VII. Distribution and Transportation, Indian
Unclassified container, Indian
Bag, textile, floating weave
Bowl, bidahochi polychrome
Bowl, jeddito, black on yellow
Bowl, jeddito, small
Bowl, modern Hopi
Bowl, modern Maricopa
Bowl, redware
Bowl, Verde redware
Jar, kayenta black on white
Pot, modern Hopi
Artifact Remnant
Basket, fragment, yucca fiber (3)
Cloth, cotton and yucca fiber
Cloth, cotton fragments (3)
Pottery fragments, Santa Cruz red on buff
Natural formed object
Bone, deer femur
Corn cob (2)
Cotton, mass of unspun cotton
Creosote bush
Gourd stem
Hematite, several specimens
Macaw skull
Mesquite
Netleaf hackberry
Salt, crystalline salt cube, and salt specimen
Stone, worked with hole
Yucca
Yucca Bundle
