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Hovenweep National Monument
by
O. Ned Eddins
Historical Novels:
Mountain of Stone
The Winds of
Change
Website Articles:
Paleo-
Indians
Meso-American Indians
Barrier Canyon Indians
Anasazi
Mesa Verde Cedar
Mesa-Grand Gulch Fremont Indians
Indian Rock Art
Monument Valley
Little Ruin Canyon Holly Ruins Cuthroat Ruin Cajon Ruins
Hovenweep National Monument is located in the Four Corners area of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. On Cajon Mesa, Hovenweep National Monument straddles the Utah-Colorado border.
Four Corners area - Delorme Topo Map
A Mormon expedition led by W. D. Huntington through Monument Valley and the Four Corners area reported the abandoned Indian Towers of Hovenweep in 1854. The term Hovenweep was first used in 1874 by the early western photographer William Henry Jackson. Hovenweep is a Ute Indian word meaning "Deserted Valley". The Hovenweep structures were discovered thirty years before Wetherill and Mason saw the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. Monument Valley was added to the Navajo Reservation forty years before Hovenweep was set aside as a National Monument. Hovenweep became part of the National Park System in 1923. Six Anasazi villages encompass the seven hundred and eighty-five acre Hovenweep National Monument. The Hovenweep villages are: Square Tower, Holly, Hackberry, Horseshoe, Cutthroat Castle, and Cajon.
Deep-cut canyons with intermittent streams drain the Cajon Mesa. When flowing with water, the streams drain into Yellowjacket and McElmo creeks and on into the San Juan River. In the early 1200s, small isolated farming groups of Anasazi Indians living on Cajon Mesa moved near the springs on the canyon rim and built the villages of Hovenweep. The visible towers and stone buildings at present-day Hovenweep were constructed between 1230 and 1277.
Despite the harsh environment, the
Hovenweep people foraged for edible plant, hunted animals, and in small plots of
moist soil raised the Three
Sisters…beans, squash, and corn.
Little Canyon Rim
Brochure
The Anasazi at Hovenweep did not build great kivas, as did the inhabitants of Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Some archeologists speculate instead of great kivas, the Anasazi of Hovenweep built ceremonial towers. The towers of Hovenweep were constructed on the canyon floor, large boulders, and the rims of canyons. Despite many theories advanced by archeologist, the purpose and use of the Hovenweep towers remains unknown.
Stronghold House
Stronghold House was built with two distinct features...Stronghold House and Stronghold Tower. Stronghold Tower was built over a crevice in a cliff. A log bridged the crevice and supported part of the tower. When the log rotted away, most of the tower collapsed in to the canyon.
Twin Towers
The Twin Towers were built on the bedrock with the two towers almost touching. One of the towers is oval, the other is horseshoe shaped. The two towers contained sixteen rooms. The Hovenweep Twin Towers are among the finest constructed towers in the Southwest.
Tower Point
Tower Point is where Little Ruin Canyon splits into two canyons. The tower has a good view up and down both canyons.
Near the head of Little Ruin Canyon is Square Tower with Hovenweep Castle behind it. Square and circular towers, D-shaped dwellings and many kivas were built in this area. In Hovenweep Castle is a log tree-ring dated at 1277. Square Tower was located just below a good spring.
Square Tower and Hovenweep Castle
Hovenweep Castle
Whatever effort it takes to reach the Holly Ruins are well worth the effort. I have been to Holly on three separate occasions and have never seen anyone else there. There is an eight mile round-trip trail from the Square Tower campground, or you can drive...the last couple of miles is on a dirt road...to the Holly towers. The turnoff from the oiled road onto the dirt road is not well marked, so be sure and get the mileage from a cattle guard to the turnoff from the Visitor Center.
Holly Canyon
Holly House
Holly Tower
Holly Rock Tower
The Cutthroat Ruins are about ten miles east of the Hovenweep Visitor Center. Follow the marked Painted Hand sign for about 2 miles to the upper trailhead. There is an .8 mile hike to the ruins
Cutthroat Group
Cutthroat Tower
Cutthroat Castle
A kiva was a ceremonial area that connected its people with other worlds. Kivas were usually built below ground with an entrance to the underworld. According to archeologists, a unique feature of the Cutthroat Castle is an above-ground kiva on top a boulder. The underground entrance, or Sipapu, is a slit in the boulder (center of picture). Another unusual feature is a square room adjoining the circular kiva.
The Cajon site is west of the visitor center on the Navajo Reservation. Get good directions from the visitor center to find these ruins...there are many crisscrossing dirt roads.
The construction at the Cajon site incorporated three large boulders in a tower.
Cajon Ruins -
James Q. Jacobs
Why did the people build these structures in such an inhospitable land and then abandon them within less than a hundred years? Why will never be known for certain, but we are privileged to see some of the how part. The intriguing question is how did these people...highest estimate is twenty-five hundred...live in such a harsh environment and still manage to build all of these structures in less than a hundred years? Tree ring dating established the approximate date of Hovenweep Castle, but there is no evidence as to when the stone work started on the simple houses like Boulder House in Little Ruin Canyon and sliding house in Holly. The masonry work on the circular Hovenweep towers is amazing. The masonry work is as good as it is today, and these people shaped and fit the rock walls with no metal tools.
Wall at Horseshoe Site ~ 1250 A.D.
By the early 14th century, the inhabitants of Hovenweep, along with the Mesa Verde and the Kayenta people, migrated south to join the Pueblo people of the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico and the Hopi Mesa villages in Arizona.
Minimal archeological work and Park Ranger scrutiny makes Hovenweep the most interesting of the Anasazi Indian dwelling sites. Pre-historic Indian sites and petroglyphs are treated with reverence by Native Americans...visitors should do the same. The freedom to observe these spectacular structures does not mean anyone should climb on, touch, damage the stone buildings, or disrespect the sites in an manner.
The Hovenweep National Monument article was written by O. Ned Eddins of Afton, Wyoming. Permission is given for material from this site to be used for school research papers.
Citation: Eddins, Ned. (article name) Thefurtrapper.com. Afton, Wyoming. 2002.
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Monument Valley Paleo-Indians Meso-American Indians Anasazi Mesa Verde Cedar Mesa Barrier Canyon Fremont Indians Rock Art Hole-in-the-Rock
References:
NPS Hovenweep Trail Guide and Brochures
http://www.nps.gov/hove/index.htm
http://www.city-data.com/articles/Hovenweep-National-Monument-Colorado.html