Yucca House National Monument
Encyclopedia
Yucca House National Monument is a United States National Monument located in Montezuma County, Colorado
between the towns of Towaoc
(headquarters of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
) and Cortez, Colorado
. Yucca House is a large, unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site
.
Two unexcavated settlement areas covered in vegetation include:
Nearby were the ancient pueblo village of Mud Springs at the head of McElmo Canyon and Navajo Springs, was the original site of the Ute Mountain Indian Agency south of Sleeping Ute Mountain in the early 1900s.
Like other nearby Ancient Pueblo peoples
, the Yucca House pueblo dwellers abandoned their homes, but because a major excavation has not been completed it is not known when, or if there is a relationship between these people and those of nearby pueblo settlements.
proclaimed the site a National Monument
on December 19, 1919, after the donation of 9.5 acres (38,000 m2) of land on July 2, 1919 by a private landowner. An additional 24 acres was donated by Hallie Ismay in the late 1990s, becoming one of the largest national monuments. It was one of many research national monuments designated during that era to preserve the ruins, plants and animals in the Yucca House area. Hallie Ismay, benefactor of the additional land in the 1990s, was an unofficial steward of the Yucca House site for 62 years.
As a National Park Service
historic area, the park was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places
on October 15, 1966. The site is managed by Mesa Verde National Park
.
Currently, there are no true interpretive features, facilities or fees at Yucca House. See the Visitor Guide for directions to the remote location. Parking space is limited and roads may be difficult immediately following rains or snowmelt.
Other neighboring Ancient Pueblo sites in Colorado
Other cultures in the Four Corners region
Early American cultures
Montezuma County, Colorado
Montezuma County is the southwesternmost of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 23,830 at U.S. Census 2000...
between the towns of Towaoc
Towaoc, Colorado
Towaoc is a census-designated place on the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Reservation in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,097 at the 2000 census. The Towaoc Post Office has the ZIP Code 81334....
(headquarters of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is one of three federally recognized tribes of the Ute Nation, and are mostly descendants of the historic Weeminuche Band who moved to the Southern Ute reservation in 1897...
) and Cortez, Colorado
Cortez, Colorado
The city of Cortez is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 8,482 at the 2010 census...
. Yucca House is a large, unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
.
Geography
Yucca House National Monument is located in the Montezuma Valley at the foot of Sleeping Ute Mountain, called "mountain with lots of yucca growing on it" by the Ute people, and inspiration for the name of the national monument.History
The site is one of many Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) village sites located in the Montezuma Valley occupied between AD 1100 and 1300 by 13,000 people.Two unexcavated settlement areas covered in vegetation include:
- Western Complex was a large puebloPuebloPueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
of up to 600 rooms, 100 kivas and a giant, perhaps community, kiva. A spring runs through the complex. A large building about 80 x 100 feet, Upper House, was made of adobeAdobeAdobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
. The ruins are about 12 to 15 feet high, but may have been twice that height. - Lower House is an L-shaped pueblo 200 feet by 180 inches with a plazaPlazaPlaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...
, 8 small rooms 7 x 2 feet and a large kiva.
Nearby were the ancient pueblo village of Mud Springs at the head of McElmo Canyon and Navajo Springs, was the original site of the Ute Mountain Indian Agency south of Sleeping Ute Mountain in the early 1900s.
Like other nearby Ancient Pueblo peoples
Ancient Pueblo Peoples
Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Pueblo peoples were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southern Colorado...
, the Yucca House pueblo dwellers abandoned their homes, but because a major excavation has not been completed it is not known when, or if there is a relationship between these people and those of nearby pueblo settlements.
Archaeological study and excavation
The following archaeological studies were conducted:- William Henry HolmesWilliam Henry HolmesWilliam Henry Holmes was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, geologist and museum director.-Life:...
visited in 1875 and in 1878 produced a report for the United States Geological SurveyUnited States Geological SurveyThe United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
. Holmes erroneously named the land "Aztec Springs" believing that ruins were the home of a band of AztecAztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
s. He created the initial map of the ruins.
- Holmes reports: "These ruins form the most imposing pile of masonry yet found in Colorado. The whole group covers an area of about 480,00 square feet, and has an average depth of from 3 to 4 feet. [...] The stone used is chiefly of the fossiliferous limestone that outcrops along the base of the Mesa Verde a mile or so away."
- In 1918 J. Walter FewkesJ. Walter FewkesJesse Walter Fewkes was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, writer and naturalist. He was born in Newton, Massachusetts, and initially trained as a zoologist at Harvard University...
studied and remapped the ruins. - An excavation was completed by the Museum of Natural HistoryAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryThe American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York in the late 1910s led by Earl Morris and, in the 5th year of excavation led by Dr. Clark WisslerClark WisslerClark Wissler was an American anthropologist.Born near Hagerstown, Indiana, Wissler graduated from Indiana University in 1897. He received his doctorate in psychology from Columbia University in 1901. After Columbia, Wissler left the field of psychology to focus on Anthropology...
. Wissler found that the interior walls of the "remarkable shrine room" were painted white with a red border and the floor covered with expertly cut slabs of stone, similar to one of the rooms at the Mesa Verde National ParkMesa Verde National ParkMesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...
. A sacred 2 1/2 foot serpent was carved into wood at the ceiling. - In two separate projects in 1964, Al Lancaster studied the area and stabilized the masonry wall of Lower House in 1964 and Al Schroeder found that some of "Upper House" was constructed of adobe, quite rare for sites built in the 13th century.
- Studies were conducted in the late 1990s following the donation of additional acreage which expanded the number of sites. The study included analysis of pottery on the new site and remapping the site with modern technology.
- In 1918 J. Walter Fewkes
National monument
President Woodrow WilsonWoodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
proclaimed the site a National Monument
National monument
A National monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of national importance such as a war or the country's founding. The term may also refer to a specific monument status, such as a National Heritage Site, which most national monuments are by reason of their cultural...
on December 19, 1919, after the donation of 9.5 acres (38,000 m2) of land on July 2, 1919 by a private landowner. An additional 24 acres was donated by Hallie Ismay in the late 1990s, becoming one of the largest national monuments. It was one of many research national monuments designated during that era to preserve the ruins, plants and animals in the Yucca House area. Hallie Ismay, benefactor of the additional land in the 1990s, was an unofficial steward of the Yucca House site for 62 years.
As a National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
historic area, the park was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on October 15, 1966. The site is managed by Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...
.
Currently, there are no true interpretive features, facilities or fees at Yucca House. See the Visitor Guide for directions to the remote location. Parking space is limited and roads may be difficult immediately following rains or snowmelt.
See also
Mesa Verde - administrator of Yucca House National Monument- Mesa Verde National ParkMesa Verde National ParkMesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...
- Ute Mountain Tribal Park
Other neighboring Ancient Pueblo sites in Colorado
- Anasazi Heritage CenterAnasazi Heritage CenterAnasazi Heritage Center, located in Dolores, Colorado, is an archaeological museum of Native American pueblo and hunter-gatherer cultures. Two 12th-century archaeological sites, the Escalante and Dominguez Pueblos, at the center were once home to Ancient Pueblo Peoples...
- Canyons of the Ancients National MonumentCanyons of the Ancients National MonumentCanyons of the Ancients National Monument is located in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of Colorado, and is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior...
- Crow Canyon Archaeological CenterCrow Canyon Archaeological CenterCrow Canyon Archaeological Center is an archeological center of training programs for students and teachers, located in Southwestern Colorado, USA...
- Hovenweep National MonumentHovenweep National MonumentHovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, located between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain...
Other cultures in the Four Corners region
- Trail of the AncientsTrail of the AncientsThe Trail of the Ancients is an National Scenic Byway located in the states of Colorado and Utah. The route highlights the archaeological and cultural history of southwestern Native American peoples, and traverses the widely diverse geological landscape of the Four Corners region...
- List of ancient dwellings of Pueblo peoples
Early American cultures
- List of prehistoric sites in Colorado
- Ancient Pueblo PeoplesAncient Pueblo PeoplesAncient Pueblo People or Ancestral Pueblo peoples were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southern Colorado...
- Oasisamerica culturesOasisamericaOasisamerica was a broad cultural area in pre-Columbian southwestern North America. It extended from modern-day Utah down to southern Chihuahua, and from the coast on the Gulf of California eastward to the Río Bravo river valley...
- Paleo-Indians