Landscape Gallery

SLIDE 1:

Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde, the landform after which the Mesa Verde archaeological region is named, towers over the surrounding valley in the heart of the Four Corners, in southwestern Colorado. Inhabited by Pueblo people for more than 1,500 years, the mesa today is home to Mesa Verde National Park and Ute Mountain Tribal Park, dedicated to the preservation of the thousands of archaeological sites within their boundaries.

SLIDE 2:

The Great Sage Plain
La Plata Mountains in the background

The Great Sage Plain is a vast expanse of rolling, sage-covered uplands stretching north and west from Mesa Verde to the red rock country of southeastern Utah. Dissected by hundreds of canyons and punctuated by large stands of pinyon and juniper, this seemingly inhospitable landscape was abundant in the natural resources Pueblo people needed to thrive: deer and other game, wild plants, and especially the deep soils required to grow corn and other crops.

Archaeological surveys have documented tens of thousands of Pueblo and other archaeological sites across the Great Sage Plain.

SLIDE 3:

Where the Great Sage Plain Meets Red Rock

. . . in southeastern Utah.

SLIDE 4:

Canyon Country of Southwestern Colorado

Canyons slice through the Great Sage Plain, twisting and turning as they descend to the San Juan or Dolores rivers, part of the larger Colorado River drainage system. Some canyon streams run year-round, others only intermittently.

SLIDE 5:

San Juan River

From its headwaters in northwestern New Mexico, the San Juan River winds its way west through the heart of the Four Corners before eventually emptying into the Colorado River.

The San Juan River marks an important archaeological boundary: to the north lies the Mesa Verde region, the northernmost extent of the ancient Pueblo world; to the south, southwest, and southeast lie Chaco Canyon, Kayenta, and the Rio Grande valley, each with their own regional manifestations of Pueblo culture.

SLIDE 6:

San Juan River: Goosenecks

Sediment eroding from rocky cliffs turns the San Juan River red through the “Goosenecks” section in southeastern Utah.

SLIDE 7:

Comb Ridge
Abajo Mountains in background

Comb Ridge is a spectacular red rock monocline that stretches from the Abajo Mountains in southeastern Utah to Tsegi Canyon near Kayenta, Arizona—almost 80 miles. Alcove dwellings, upland sites, and ancient trails carved into rock are evidence of thousands of years of human occupation.

SLIDE 8:

Stories Etched in Stone

Throughout the ancient Pueblo world, people converted sheer rock faces into artists’ canvasses—pecking, and sometimes painting, images that offer unique glimpses into life in the distant past.

SLIDE 9:

Colorado River
Ancient Pueblo site in foreground

The Colorado River in Arizona: Pueblo and other Indigenous peoples lived along the river corridor, including in the Grand Canyon.

Kate Thompson, photographer

SLIDE 10:

Chaco Wash

In northwestern New Mexico, Chaco Wash cuts through some of the harshest high desert landscapes of the Four Corners. Although the wash flows only intermittently, its upper reaches are home to the famous Pueblo great houses of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

SLIDE 11:

Dust Devil

Beginning in spring and lasting into summer, strong winds from the south and west whip across the Four Corners, creating whirlwinds, or “dust devils,” such as the one shown here in a tilled field close to the Crow Canyon campus.

SLIDE 12:

Pinyon
(Pinus edulis)

Pinyon pine wood was used by Pueblo people for fuel and in construction; the tiny nuts were a source of protein.

SLIDE 13:

Prickly Pear Cactus
(Opuntia sp.)

The discovery of charred prickly pear seeds in ancient hearths indicates that Pueblo people ate this readily available wild plant.

SLIDE 14:

Juniper
(Juniperus osteosperma)

This shaggy-barked tree was a source of construction and fuel wood; its berries are edible.

SLIDE 15:

Rabbitbrush
(Chrysothamnus nauseosus)

Rabbitbrush thrives in disturbed habitats, such as abandoned agricultural fields. The Pueblo people used this woody shrub for fuel.

SLIDE 16:

Spring Flowers
Ute Mountain in background

Springtime on the Great Sage Plain: A patch of globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea) blooms bright orange next to the dagger-like leaves of a large yucca (Yucca baccata). The masonry wall is part of an ancient roomblock at Escalante Pueblo, at the Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum just outside Dolores, Colorado.

SLIDE 17:

Summer Monsoon

Summer monsoon rains bring much-needed moisture to a parched earth. Pueblo farmers of the Four Corners relied on the summer monsoon to grow their crops. A weak or failed monsoon could lead to hardship; successive years of inadequate monsoon moisture, especially when coupled with dry winters and/or shortened growing seasons, probably contributed to periodic migrations.

In good years, the summer monsoon can begin as early as late June and last into September.

SLIDE 18:

Fall Color
Ute Mountain, near the Crow Canyon campus

The Ancestral Pueblo homeland is a land of four seasons. Turning yellow at the lower elevation are cottonwood trees (Populus fremontii) lining a stream; the traces of gold on Ute Mountain are stands of aspen (Populus tremuloides).

SLIDE 19:

Winter
Ute Mountain with a dusting of snow

Winter precipitation is a crucial factor in dryland (non-irrigation) farming—producing the deep soil moisture needed to germinate crops in the spring and sustain them until the summer monsoon. This is as true for dryland farmers today as it was for Pueblo farmers 1,000 years ago.