Colorado History

High cliffs rise above the valley floor, creating flat table land.
This area was named by Spaniards as Rio De Los Mancos (River of the Cripples) and the table land as Mesa Verde.
Americans discovered this land later when running survey lines in what became Colorado.
The Mesa had already seen the disappearance of its original inhabitants, the Mesa dwellers, long before European contact.
Modern tourists can view the mesa prominently as they travel from Durango to Cortez on US 160, highlighting its prominence, standing 2,000 feet above the valley floor and 20 miles wide, sloping back 15 miles to the south from Starling Promontory.
The mesa is intertwined with rugged canyons that showcase evidence of the ancient civilization that thrived there.

The original Mesa dwellers left no historical links to later civilizations that inhabited the region.
Homo sapiens are believed to have arrived via a land bridge known as the Bering Straits, migrating into the Americas approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago or more.
Early populations relied on wild animals and natural foods, living a nomadic lifestyle as Paleo Indians, subsisting while battling harsh environmental conditions.
Some of these early groups transitioned from nomadic to agricultural lifestyles, settling in areas such as Mesa Verde around the onset of the Christian era and staying for approximately the next 1,300 years.

The Basket Maker Period represents the first defined era of Mesa dwellers, lasting from around AD 1 to approximately AD 450.
Early Basket Makers retained a nomadic lifestyle, contributing to a scarcity of archaeological evidence.
As the people settled, they accumulated artifacts including tools, household items, and weapons, giving insight into their society.
Notable features of these early inhabitants:
- Description: Black-haired, brown-skinned hunters.
- Agricultural practices began with the cultivation of corn and squash, marking the shift from wanderers to settlers.
- Lacked pottery, relying on skillfully woven, decorated baskets which were tightly constructed to hold water and were used for cooking by heating stones.
Cultural handicaps:
- Absence of houses and pottery hindered development in comparison with later societies.
- Weapons were rudimentary, using an atlatl (spear thrower) instead of the more advanced bow and arrow that came later.
- Clothing was primarily made from animal skins and woven fur for warmth during the severe winters.
- Children were cradled in flexible reed boards to prevent deformities in their skulls during development.
- Religious practices included burial of tools and jewelry with the dead, possibly for use in the afterlife, often within graves in floors or caves.

The Modified Basket Maker Period marked the second development era from AD 450 to approx. AD 750.
Key advancements included:
- Introduction of pottery, homes, and the bow and arrow leading to more complex lives.
- Beginnings of pottery, which transitioned from primitive clay vessels to improved designs by mixing materials for strength and function.
- Development of pithouses:
- Features included a dug hole using logs and reeds for wall and roof creation, a smoke hole for ventilation, and entrances typically accessed via ladders.
- Over time, the locations transitioned from caves to more open areas atop the mesa.
- Continued development of agriculture included new crops such as beans and previously unknown corn varieties.
- Domesticating turkeys for utility, exemplifying further agricultural advances.

This period marked an apex in architectural sophistication:
- Budding architectural complexities included multi-story buildings such as Farview House, showcasing integration of living and ceremonial spaces.
- Agriculture continued to mature, with an increased reliance on diverse crop production and early irrigation techniques demonstrated by construction in canyon floors for water storage.
- Items such as cotton, salt, seashells, and turquoise suggest extensive trade networks existed.
- Despite advancements, the Pueblo people faced limitations, including a lack of writing systems, horses, livestock, metal tools, and the wheel.
Population consolidation likely led to a decline in diversity, as evidenced by the standardization of kivas and larger dwelling spaces.
Innovations in defense became vital as cliff dwellings began, relocating the population into canyon caves amid fears, possibly from nomadic raids or internal conflict.

The gradual departure from Mesa Verde at the close of the 13th century prompted by various factors:
- Possible environmental changes creating prolonged droughts, particularly significant during the last quarter of the century.
- Resource depletion due to overpopulation and intensive agricultural and hunting practices led to unsustainable living conditions.
- Cultural traditions hint at migrations southward, including tribal lore among modern descendants like the Tiwa, Hopi, and Zuni tribes.
By the end of the 13th century, the once thriving Pueblo dwellings became abandoned, transitioning into ghost towns overtaken by nature.
Preservation efforts in modern times serve to honor this lost civilization, highlighting the rich, yet ephemeral legacy of the Pueblo peoples of Colorado.