Ancient Abodes - Montezuma Castle National Monument

Blog Date: 2/14/2022

Date Visited: 7/7/2021

Location: 2800 Montezuma Castle Hwy, Camp Verde, AZ

www.nps.gov/moca/index.htm

All Content is © Larry Nader Photography & Art 2020-2022

Tucked neatly away in the limestone cliffs of Camp Verde, Arizona, and high above Beaver Creek, lies Montezuma Castle, an ancient abode structure built by the Sinagua people. Established as a national monument in 1908, the Castle became the third National Monument preserving Native American culture.

The five-story, 20-room monument is a long-standing depiction of Native American ingenuity and survival, which ultimately lead to prosperity in an unforgiving desert. It is believed that the entire dwelling took several centuries to complete starting around 1200 CE. Montezuma Castle is considered to be one of Arizona's best-preserved cliff dwellings and was built by the Sinagua, who were associated with the Hohokam people of southern Arizona, despite early white settlers believing it was built by the Aztecs.

The Sinagua were peaceful, pre-Columbian native Americans who were primarily hunter-gatherers, which were prehistoric nomadic groups that harnessed the use of fire, developed an intricate knowledge of plant life, and refined technology for hunting and domestic purposes.

Artifacts that have been recovered at this site show the Sinagua to have been a simple people that were very gifted craftsmen. They were also master traders, as many artifacts recovered were found to not have been from the local area. Based on findings, it s believed that Montezuma Castle was a hotbed of trade activities between the Sinagua and other people from as far away as 100 miles. Historians pinpoint that the Sinagua abandoned the area in roughly 1425CE, although history can provide us no answers as to why they left their long-time home.

Following its being named a national monument by then-President Theodore Roosevelt, Montezuma Castle quickly became a destination for the newly developing car travel enthusiast crowds. Early visitors to the Castle were able to access the dwelling and rooms by climbing a series of ladders up the limestone cliffs. Over the years, however, this foot traffic was starting to deteriorate the dwelling, and in 1951, public access to the ruins was discontinued. Today, the site sees roughly 350,000 visitors a year to the Monument.