We were passing near the Four Corners marker, so decided to stop. Not really worth it- the only thing there is a medallion in the center the shows the 4 states- Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. There are also lots of Native American vendors. The one bright spot- we stopped at one shop to talk to the owner, Sharon Clark. She explained a lot about turquoise, the reduction in mines in the U.S. and the need for many artists to import the stone. She was a Navajo, and talked a little about having left the reservation to serve in the Navy, and that she is now back on the reservation trying to be true to her heritage. Very interesting young woman.
This monument is located in the Southwest corner of Colorado, near the Four Corners and Mesa Verde. We arrived there in mid-afternoon, so decided to drive directly to the Anasazi Heritage Center, which serves as the visitor center for the monument. The monument encompasses more than 170,000 acres in this section of Colorado and is, again, managed by the Bureau of Land Management. I could not find what year it was declared a monument, but because of BLS management, I am assuming around the year 2000, the same as Vermilion Cliffs. The BLS allows more uses of the lands than the Park Service, including drilling for oil and gas in certain areas, as well as grazing livestock. The Canyons are being protected because of the rich landscape of cultural and natural resources. Thousands of archaeological sites have been identified within the monument. There are thousands more out there! When a dam was built in the area back in the late 80's and early 90's, years were spent digging up and removing tons of artifacts. Although the sites themselves were lost, much can still be learned from what was found.
The Anasazi Heritage Center became the repository for these artifacts. One could spend hours in this building looking at all the pottery, baskets, etc. that were found. The exhibits were very informative, and in one case surprising. An early spear head was found to contain both horse and camel (?!) DNA! We expressed surprise to the docent there about the number and variety of items they had on display. Her response- "You should see the basement!" This center is a must for anyone who is interested in Native American heritage and history. Just amazing.
We got advice on what to see while we were there. There is no road into the Canyons, and no tours are given. There are a few hiking trails but, again, not really set up for visitors. She did let us know of a couple of sites of ruins that we could see. Since it was late, we decided to postpone those visits until morning.
Dale and I had stayed in the same town, Cortez, in 2009 when we visited Mesa Verde National Park. The town has grown significantly since then. We decided to go back to the same restaurant for dinner, as we had enjoyed talking to the owner and wondered if he still owned the business. We knew we were in the right place when we walked in- same crazy paintings on the wall and the same quote I put in the blog the last time. Just for old times sake, here it is again. "Never stand in front of a bull, in back of a horse, or anyplace near a fool."
Thursday morning we drove back up by the Center and on to the back roads that would lead to the ruins. The first one we wanted to see was the Lowry Pueblo. The last section into the site was on gravel road.
This pueblo is a National Historic Landmark, and is the only developed site in the monument. Its walls have been stabilized and a roof placed over the main portion of the building to preserve it. This particular pueblo has 40 rooms, eight kivas, and a Great Kiva. Researchers believe the Great Kiva was used for meetings of multiple tribes, ceremonies, and dancing.
It was fun to see this ruin up close, as you could walk inside to see the interior construction. It was thought to have 2 stories, one of which was partly underground. The remains of the walls to the multiple rooms could be seen. We walked over to the Great Kiva, a large circular structure mostly underground. The ladder into the kiva has been chained off, so we could not go down. You could see where supports had been for 4 timbers to hold up the roof. Hard to imagine how long these buildings have been here. Also wonder how they built the walls so straight, and the kivas so perfectly round!
Spent a few minutes talking with a man who works on a nearby ranch. He says he comes up here every few days just to walk around. On the way out, we spotted a mule deer. The photo is a little blurred (through the windshield), but you can see how big his ears are compared to our deer. Based on the time, and the gravel roads, we decided not to see the other site mentioned, and headed southeast toward Santa Fe- a pretty, but uneventful drive.
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