Utah and Colorado. Rock Towers of Hovenweep National Monument
Hovenweep National Monument is truly off-the-beaten-path. Located in southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado, the site protects ruins of six groups of Pueblo villages. Although less impressive than Anasazi sites such as Colorado’s Mesa Verde or Arizona’s Montezuma Castle, Hovenweep offer opportunities for up-close views of expertly built houses, towers, and other structures. The ruins themselves demonstrate a range of architecture styles.
Archaeologists have documented the presence of hunter-gatherers in the region around Hovenweep extending back to 8000 BC. Between 50 and 500 AD the area was occupied by people who grew maize and beans and made baskets. The first buildings on the site were constructed in about 900 AD, at about the same time Pueblo dwellings were being constructed at Mesa Verde. During this period, Hovenweep’s population was estimated to be 2,500. By 1160, multi-story structures were being built by expert stone masons who adapted construction methods to compensate for uneven and rocky surfaces. At least some of Hovenweep’s towers and other buildings were positioned at higher locations to offer defensive views and provide a natural defense. Residents terraced hillsides for crops and created catchment basins and dams to capture runoff.
Sometime after 1350 the residents of Hovenweep migrated south to areas presently occupied by Arizona’s Hopi and New Mexico’s Pueblo Indians. Prolonged drought, coupled with hostile neighbors and a depletion of resources may have contributed to the decision to leave. Long abandoned, Hovenweep’s ruins were known to Ute and Navajo who believed they were haunted. In 1854, the ruins were discovered by William D. Huntington who was on a mission trip to the southwestern U.S. Meaning “deserted valley,” the Ute word “Hovenweep” was first used to describe the ruins by photographer William H. Jackson in 1874. After surveying the area in 1917, the Smithsonian Institute distributed a recommendation that the area should be protected and in 1923, Hovenweep became a national monument. Today, 183 kilometers of road connecting Hovenweep National Monument, the adjacent Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (operated by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management), and Mesa Verde National Park is called “Trail of the Ancients.”
Coming from the west, we took U.S. Highway 163 to Bluff, Utah and U.S. Highway 191 north before turning east on Utah 262 to Hatch Trading Post Road and Cajon Mesa Road. We began our Hovenweep tour at the Square Tower Group in Little Ruin Canyon adjacent to the monument’s visitor center. Subsequently, we followed the 2.4-kilometer Rim Rock Trail for views of buildings that make up the Square Tower Group.
Driving northeast into Colorado, we stopped to see buildings in the Holly Group including Holly Tower, Tilted Tower, and Great House. Continuing northeast we walked among ruins of the Horseshoe and Hackberry Groups including Horseshoe House. The Horseshoe group can be reached by following a 0.6-kilometer trail from a parking lot. Our final stop was Cutthroat Castle.
Buildings protected within the monument utilize a system called “masonry core and veneer” where larger stone blocks were stacked vertically to form a central core. Smaller stones were then wedged into gaps to form a smooth exterior. In a few places handprints can be found in mortar joints. Towers and other structures at Hovenweep are circular, semicircular, or square. The exact purpose of the towers is unknown. Archaeologists believe that they may have served as observatories, forts, and/or granaries for storing food. While some are freestanding and located along a canyon rim or at the top of a rock pinnacle, others have been constructed on level ground.
