On December 18, 1888 cowboys Richard Wetherill and Charles Mason were searching for lost cattle on Mesa Verde. Riding up to the edge of the mesa they looked down and saw a city built of stone nestling under an overhang of the cliff. Abandoned stone dwellings had been found in the area as early as 1874, but they had found something on a much grander scale - the ruins now known as Cliff Palace. Back then American settlers regarded the lifestyle of the native Indian population as primitive, so the sight must have generated some strange feelings. To find a well preserved and beautifully built ancient stone city raised difficult questions about who had built it and why it had been abandoned.
Kivas in 1st Courtyard, Spruce Tree House
Spruce Tree House was discovered by Richard Wetherill and Charles Mason the same day that they found Cliff Palace. The name of the house comes from a spruce tree that they climbed down to enter the ruins. Construction of Spruce Tree House began about 1211, quite late in the Classic Pueblo Period. Located in a deep alcove in the cliff, the buildings are exceptionally well preserved, with some original timbers remaining. There are about 130 rooms and it is thought that about 80 people lived here. There are also 8 kivas, circular ceremonial chambers that were built underground and entered via a ladder through the roof. The roofs of two kivas are visible on the left of the picture. Click Tab 2 to see a view into a Cliff Palace Kiva that has lost its roof.
Mesa Verde National Park
The climb to Balcony House
And this shows the access to Balcony House. The route for visitors is up a 9 metre (30 foot) ladder. We can’t imagine that the Health & Safety mafia would ever allow this in the UK. You do need a reasonable head for heights, but the ladder is very sturdy and feels secure. Because of the limited access you can only visit Balcony House on a ranger guided tour. If you are not convinced that you need a head for heights to get up the ladder, click Tab 2 to see a view from the bottom.
Round & SquareTowers, Cliff Palace
Archaeological evidence indicates that all of the dwellings in Mesa Verde were abandoned by 1300. The reason for this was for a long time a mystery, but it is now thought that a 23 year drought that started in 1276 forced the people to move on in search of water. The buildings had been abandoned for around 600 years when Wetherill and Mason found them in 1888. After nearly 18 years of uncontrolled exploration and excavation work Mesa Verde was protected as a National Park in 1906 and in 1978 it became a World Heritage site. The state of preservation of the buildings is remarkable with even some timbers and wall paintings surviving where they are sheltered deep in the alcove. Click Tab 2 to see a wall painting inside the Square Tower.
North Plaza, Balcony House
Balcony House was discovered in 1884 by prospector S. E. Osborn, four years before Wetherill and Mason discovered the much larger Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House. The alcove containing Balcony House is set high in the cliff which makes access much more difficult than to Cliff Palace or Spruce Tree House. Although the ruins are relatively small and access is difficult, it is worth making the effort to see Balcony House as some of the best archaeological evidence is visible here. The name Balcony House comes from the balcony on the house in this picture, which is original.
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Cliff Palace from Sun Temple
Here is proof that the history of North America started long before the British Colonies. It is believed that people started farming in this area around 2000 years ago. Known to us as the Anasazi, they lived in pit houses and they left pottery that has been dated back as far as 400AD. From around 750 the Anasazi began to build small villages (or pueblos) of adobe, timber and stone. During the Classic Pueblo Period, from 1100 onwards, they began to build grander buildings of stone in the cliff alcoves that abound in the area. Construction of Cliff Palace is believed to have started in the late 1100s and it grew into a city of over 150 rooms and a population of over 100. When we first visited Mesa Verde in 1988 our tour through Cliff Palace was self guided, but we found in 2008 that only Ranger guided tours were offered.
Square Tower House from cliff top
The Anasazi even had skyscrapers, of sorts. Wetherill and Mason discovered this unusual structure the day after they found Cliff Palace. The four storey tower at Square Tower House is the tallest building at Mesa Verde but it is only a small part of a pueblo that originally had around 80 rooms. So, who were the people who built and then abandoned these great buildings? It is now clear that they were the ancestors of the modern American Indians (or Native Americans).
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© Mike Elsden 1981 - 2025
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