Early settlers in the region now known as central and northern Arizona left behind a history that continues to baffle, intrigue, and educate visitors and scientists alike.
by Dawn M. Armfield
Within a one hundred mile radius of Flagstaff, Arizona, Native American ruins dot the landscape. From Wupatki 45 miles to the north to Tuzigoot 50 miles to the south, a visitor can find an amazing array of ruins from many different peoples. The landscapes are as diverse as the people that inhabited them from lush canyons and riverside communities to desert vistas and hilltop overlooks.
Wupatki
The northern Sinagua (Spanish for 
“without water”) people created a rich and vibrant community that was established around 500 A.D. in an area that is 45 miles north of modern day Flagstaff. They were hunter/gathers who lived in relative peace and had designed a community that focused on the growing of corn, collecting edible plants, and hunting small game from the area surrounding their homes.
In 1064 A.D, Sunset Crater was created by a volcanic eruption and this led to the peoples’ subsequent fleeing of the area. Shortly after the eruption, rainfall returned and 
mixed with ash from the volcano creating ideal farming conditions. The Sinagua returned at the end of the 11th century and began farming once again.
After their return, they began to have contact with other cultures around the area, including the Kayenta Anasazi (known for their skills in building pueblos and innovative water retention methods) from the north and the Cohonina (known for their superb ceramic skills) from the west.
The Sinagua, Anasazi, and Cohonina lived in harmony in the Wupatki area for a short time, building what are now the ruins of Wupatki National Monument (a vast area holding more than 2,000 ruins), including Lomaki, Wupatki, and Wukoki.
Lomaki is at the north end of the park and has several ruins in the area including the main Lomaki ruin and several box canyon ruins within eyesight. These ruins are tucked away in a hilly area of the park with vistas that allow the visitor to see 100s of miles in any direction.
Wupatki (Hopi for “tall house”), the main ruin, is located in the valley between hills. It is said that the Sinagua probably built Wupatki in this region because of the intricate underground cave system that forced cool air out of blow holes. At this site, you can feel cool air blowing consistently out of the blow hole and on a hot desert day, where temperatures often reach the 100s, the cool air is a welcome relief. At this site is also a large oval arena that scientists believe was used for sports and games, including one game that resembles modern day soccer (football).
Wukoki is a beautiful ruin built upon an island of stones. It sits tall above the landscape and it has lookout windows that can see for miles around it. The stones at Wukoki have a deeper tint of red and are absolutely beautiful. Under a full moon, Wukoki almost seems to glow across the landscape.
By the 1200s, drought had returned to the area and drove the people away. The Sinagua are thought to have either moved northeast toward the current Hopi mesas or south to join their relatives in the Verde Valley.
The ruins of Wupatki are in amazing shape considering the hundreds of years that have passed since they were last occupied. Pottery shards and other artifacts of past inhabitants are still found throughout the monument (although it is illegal to even pick them up and is a fineable offense to steal them).
Walnut Canyon
The Sinagua of Walnut Canyon built a complex weaving of homes settled under the limestone cliffs and in shallow caves beginning around 1125 A.D. This was ingenious. The cliffs and caves provided incredible insulation during the winter allowing the people to keep the warmth of their fires within their homes. During the summers, as it began to warm up, the overhangs (and the accompanying walnut trees that sprout everywhere throughout the canyon) provided relief to the oppressive heat.
Crops were built above the cliff homes, along the canyon’s rims. The people of Walnut Canyon grew corn, beans, and squash and also relied on the multitude of wild plants that grow in the area, including wild grapes, elderberry, yucca, and Arizona black walnut.
Much of Walnut Canyon was looted during the 1800s when nearby settlers would visit the area. The ruins were often blasted so that visitors could get into the ruins and take any artifacts that may have been left behind.
Today, visitors can take a walk down 
240 stairs to the main island where there is a path around the entire island. On the trail, there are many ruins that can be seen on a very personal level, being less than a foot from the trail. In fact, many are open, allowing visitors to enter.
The Sinagua did not live in the Walnut Canyon area for long, little more than 100 years. It is not known why they moved or where they moved to after they left. It is believe that this group followed in the Wupatki footsteps and either joined other relatives or moved toward the Hopi mesas.
Montezuma Well
Nestled in between canyon walls and flowing hills, 
the well at Montezuma Well (so named by settlers to the region because they believed this to be built by Montezuma - who had never actually been this far north) is a genuine surprise. Formed from the collapse of underground limestone caverns, the well is approximately 600 feet across. Natural springs feed the well continuously.
The Hohokam (Pima for “those who have gone”) were the first permanent settlers in the area. The Hohokam are renowned for their exemplary canal systems that were created throughout the Arizona region (and set up the ground work for the current Arizona Canal system).
The Hohokam were skilled farmers who grew crops of corn, squash, beans, and cotton and used intricate irrigations systems to water them. They lived on terraces that overlooked their crops and built simple one-room homes.
At the base of the well, the Swallet Ruin is built below the cliff overhangs and surrounded by lush vegetation. On the walls of the ruins are several inscriptions written by visitors from the 1800s.
In the cliffs surrounding the well, there are several dwellings built into the caves of limestone. These overlook the well and are situated less than 30 feet below the rim of the well. The dwellings are situated to get the morning sun and are shaded from the hot afternoon sun.
Along the rim of the well are several areas of ruins in severe disrepair. Some of these houses would have been as large as 55 rooms and some as small as one room.
The Sinagau moved in after the Hohokam had vacated the land. The Sinagua were able to make use of the canal systems the Hohokam had built and they began to build above-ground dwellings that they may have borrowed from their time with the Anasazi.
Montezuma Castle
Montezuma Castle is an incredible 
attribute to the people who created it. Built into the limestone overlooking Beaver Creek, Montezuma Castle is a five story dwelling that is similar to today’s apartment buildings with twenty different rooms and was occupied for 300 years between 1100 and 1400 A.D.
Montezuma Castle was so popular that Sinagua people from all around the region flocked to the area to become a part of the community. However, because of overcrowding, the Sinagua left this area in the 1400s and it is unknown where they went from here.
Tuzigoot
In 1100 A.D., several Sinaguan families moved to the hilltop and built a small pueblo overlooking the valley. The land was fertile, held an abundance of water and game (antelope, deer, bear, and waterfowl) and it was the perfect spot to settle. Tuzigoot (Apache for “crooked water”) rises 120 feet above the Verde Valley with the Verde River running nearby.
As word of this find filtered out to other communities, people moved to Tuzigoot to escape the droughts of the northern regions in the 1200s. Thus, Tuzigoot grew and the pueblo was built downward, along the edges of the hill. By the 1300s, Tuzigoot had more than 110 rooms and the land became severely stressed by all of the people. By the 1400s, there were more than 200 people living in Tuzigoot and by 1425, the land could no longer support all of them.
The Sinagua left Tuzigoot at this point and there is no record of where they may have gone.
It is difficult to know how the Sinagua lived or where and why they moved because they left no written history for us to trace. Most of what we know, and what is shared here, is conjecture based on what knowledge can be gathered from the remaining pieces of the culture left behind. The Hopi people have also been incredibly helpful in being able to link several remains and the artifacts with those remains to specific ceremonial societies within the Hopi culture. There still remain questions, though, and they may never be answered.
The lessons the Sinagua (and other cultures like the Anasazi, Cohonina, and Hohokam) left behind are invaluable. They knew how to survive in arid lands without taxing the land around them too much. They knew how to use native plants for medicine and food. They knew how to integrate other cultures’ ideas into their own to make a stronger society. Lessons we can all use.
