Tom's visit: What is "Montezuma Castle" National Monument?

Close up of Montezuma Castle

A couple of months ago, Tom traveled to Arizona to visit our friend Dan, who was the ultimate travel guide!  One of the places that Dan took Tom was Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot, a National Monument managed by the National Park Service. In this blog, we'll provide you with a close up look at it, and hopefully inspire you to visit!

WHERE IS IT? It is about 1 hour northwest of Phoenix, Arizona. It's at the southern end of the Coconino National Forest where it borders the  southeastern edge of the Prescott National Forest. It's just northwest of the town of Cottonwood off state route Alt 89. Address: P. O. Box 219 
Camp Verde, AZ 86322, Tel. (928) 567-3322 x221

Montezuma Castle, ruins of the first level dwellings.

WHAT IS IT? It is a dwelling in the side of a cliff built by the Sinagua people. Montezuma Castle is situated about 90 feet (27 m) up a sheer limestone cliff, facing the adjacent Beaver Creek, which drains into the perennial Verde River just north of Camp Verde. It is one of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in North America.

WHO BUILT IT?  "Sin agua" in spanish means "without water." The Sinagua people who built and lived here for over 300 years; were the first settlers to give the dwelling the misnomer of 'Montezuma.'  They were named Sinagua by Archaeologist Harold Colton in 1939.The name reflects the surprise the Spanish felt that such large mountains did not have perennial rivers flowing from them, as is common in Spain.

WHO WERE THE SINAGUA PEOPLE? - The Sinagua were a pre-Columbian culture that occupied a large area in central Arizona from the Little Colorado River, near Flagstaff, to the Salt River, near Sedona, including the Verde Valley, area around San Francisco Mountain, and significant portions of the Mogollon Rim country, between approximately 500 CE (AD) and 1425 CE (AD). Since fully developed Sinagua sites emerged in central Arizona around 650 CE (AD), it is believed they migrated from east-central Arizona, possibly emerging from the Mogollon culture. 

Devil's Bridge, as seen from the other side.

WHAT DID THE LIVE ON? They were hunter-gatherers. They traded their baskets and woven cotton cloth for copper, macaws, marine shells, salt, and rare pigments. The Sinagua economy was based on a combination of hunter-gatherer foraging and subsistence agriculture. They hunted a variety of game from antelope, bear, rabbit, to turtles and ducks. They used amaranth, buckwheat, ricegrass, cactus fruit, beeweed flowers, cattails for flour. Sunflowers, hackberry fruit, yucca, wild grapes, walnuts, pine nuts, and acorns were also important sources of food. Sinagua farmers cultivated maize beginning in the eighth century. They learned irrigation techniques from their southern Hohokam neighbors and added beans and squash to their crops.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS' TIME REFERENCE NOTE: The  reason for using BCE/CE as opposed to AD/BC is to avoid reference to Christianity (because Native Americans were not Christian).

Sinagua petroglyps between 900-1300 AD Cr: DennisandJudy Travels

THE CASTLE A ROOM  - In 1933, "Castle A", a 45-50 room, pueblo ruin was excavated, uncovering a wealth of artifacts and greatly enhanced our understanding of the Sinagua people who inhabited this riparian "oasis" along Beaver Creek for over 400 years. In 1933 people were allowed to climb ladders and go inside, but by 1951 people were causing damage, so the public was no longer allowed inside. 

Devil's Bridge, as close to the edge as Tom was willing to go.

WHEN DID IT BECOME A NATIONAL MONUMENT? On December 8, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt celebrated the passage of the Antiquities Act by declaring four sites of historic and cultural significance as our nation's first National Monuments. Among these was Montezuma Castle, which the President identified as a place "of the greatest ethnological value and scientific interest." 

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.nps.gov/moca/index.htm and https://www.facebook.com/MontezumaNPS

DEVIL'S BRIDGE- It's a natural bridge of rock on the way to Montezuma Castle.

THE VIEW - The view from the Montezuma's castle out over the national monument was spectacular!