Cliff Dwellings

We’re in New Mexico now.  We visited the Gila (hee-la) Cliff Dwellings.  These were home to Mogollon people back around 1280. They think 30-40 people built and lived in the multiple rooms and caves.  Love this park.  You can walk around on your own or take a tour with a guide.  We did both so we could learn more plus have time to see the things we wanted to see.

The most interesting part for me was that it was only used for about 30 years or one generation.  They think something like a drought caused nomadic people to live here since it’s close to a spring.  This also occurred at the same time in other nearby places like Mesa Verde.  But the part I thought was interesting was that after this time the natives went back to being more nomadic with no permanent home.  They saw no benefit of living in one place.  Sort of like full-timers.

The road to the cliff dwellings is pretty wild.  It’s mostly a windy mountain road with sharp turns, even 180 degree curves.  Plus, on the way home we had to wait for a very large steer (about as large as a buffalo) cross the street.  It was just ambling home.  All the cattle were in a fenced in area but the gates were wide open.  We weren’t going to argue with him!