Wupatki
National Monument
ARIZONA
WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT
An unusual stone pueblo built by Indian farmers of the 12th century
The red sandstone prehistoric pueblosof Wupatki, gleaming against a backgroundof black basaltic cliffs and facinga view of the Painted Desert of the LittleColorado River, were built by groupsof farming Indians, ancestors of the picturesqueHopis. More than 800 homesites have been discovered in the monument,varying from the pits of ancientearth lodges to house structures threestories high. Studies of ancient woodenbeams in the ruins have dated the majoroccupation as occurring during the eleventhand twelfth centuries.
These abundant prehistoric ruins constitutethe tangible and colorful remains ofan eleventh-century Indian “land rush”that resulted from the earlier eruption ofSunset Crater, a nearby volcano.
Coming from several directions andbringing different customs and habits, thevarious tribes met and mixed, though remainingin large part distinct groups,forming a local cultural pattern differentiatedfrom its contemporaries in othersections of the prehistoric AmericanSouthwest.
The many ruins in Wupatki NationalMonument are in an unusual state ofpreservation. The most accessible are theCitadel and Wupatki, located 5 and 14miles, respectively, from U. S. Highway 89.
The Eruption and the Land Rush
Prior to the eruption of Sunset Crater,the vast area from the San FranciscoPeaks to the Little Colorado River wassparsely inhabited due to scarcity of rainfallfor raising crops. A few families werescattered along the base of the peaks whereabundant snow and frequent summer rainsmade farming possible.
Between 1046 and 1071 A. D., or almost1,000 years ago, there were rumblings inthe valley at the foot of the peaks. Earthlodges abandoned by the frightened Indiansdecayed into ruins. Then came theeruption of what is now Sunset Crater.Huge clouds of volcanic cinder or ashburied remains of the homes and spreada black mantle over more than 800 squaremiles of territory between the mountainsand the river.
While this was probably regarded as agreat catastrophe at the time, some of theIndians soon discovered it was possible toraise corn where plants previously hadshriveled and died from lack of water.The fine layer of cinder over the soilformed a mulch which absorbed moisturefrom the scanty rain and snow. Graduallynews of this new farming land filteredout over the Southwest. The land rushwas on.
The People
Here truly was a “melting pot.” Indianfamilies came from the north, south, east,and west. In the cinder-covered area isthe only place where we find the Pueblo2dry farmer from eastern and northernArizona mingling with the Hohokam irrigationfarmer from the south; where thereare strong influences from the Mogollongroups to the south and east along withthose from a more backward and, as yet,little-known people from the west.
Each tribe came with their precious cornseed and digging sticks to cultivate thecinder soils. They met and mingled.In the earlier village ruins it i