Mesa Verde, Southwest Colorado
Look this place up and see the way Native Americans lived around 1200 AD. Native Americans settled this area about 550 AD and it was not until around 1200 AD that they built the cave dwellings. By about 1300 AD Mesa Verde was deserted and no one really knows why.
It is possible, as you can see, to go down and wonder around in the homes of the early Native Americans. You do need to sign up and go on a tour with a Ranger to get all the information. It does require some climbing so be careful.
These cliff dwellings were discovered in the 1880's and protected from vandalism when made a national park.
Another smaller dwelling.
Before the Native Americans built in the cliffs they lived in pit houses and this is the excavation of one such house. They were built a couple feet into the ground and the sides were four wooded timbers supporting a roof. The walls were sticks that were mud covered. The sun is very intense in the summer so the move to the cliffs made perfect sense.
I stayed at the lodge in Mesa Verde and all of the units had a view of the area. It was fantastic!
There were about 200 rooms at the lodge.
Very nice views and I saw deer and coyotes.
The sunset was nice, too.
Take a trip to Mesa Verde someday.
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