Montezuma Castle is what remains of an ancient abode structure built between the early 1100’s and 1350 A.D. It was mistaken by white settlers to have been the home of former Aztec Emperor Montezuma, however scholar’s research has proven it was built by the cliff-dwelling Sinagua Indians who lived there between the early 1100’s to around 1425 A.D. The “castle” is one of the best-preserved pre-Columbian Pueblo Indian cliff-dwellings in the United States. It can be found tucked in an alcove in the cliffs high above Beaver Creek in the Verde River Valley of Camp Verde Arizona. This apartment style house was once occupied by 45 to 50 people.
Built into a cavity in the soft limestone cliffs that border the sides of Beaver Creek Canyon, Montezuma Castle is five stories high with about 20 rooms. The walls of the castle are built of field stones that are held together with a mud and clay mortar. The roofs framework is made up of large beams covered by smaller ones which was then overlaid in thatch and mud. The large beans for the roofs were made of harvested trees, either sycamore, alder, or ash. These were cut down with stone axes that could cut through the average sized tree in about 15 minutes. The Castle’s walls were curved to conform with the alcove’s shape and enhanced stability. They were at least two feet thick on the bottom and a foot towards the top with ceilings that were six feet high and T-shaped doors that were five feet high. To preserve the heat in the rooms the doors were kept small and low. Each room has about 100 square feet of floor space the smallest room on the second story being 37.5 square feet and the largest room on the fifth story 240 square feet. The uses for the rooms varied from living quarters, storage, burial grounds, community gatherings, and sitting places to work.
The Sinagua Indians of the Montezuma Castle were gatherers, farmers, hunters, and skilled craftsmen. The plants located in the Verde Valley were vital to the lives of the Sinagua people. Over the years they had learned to use every part of every plant. There were over 25 different species which all provided either medicine, dyes, baskets, roofs, or food. Flour could be ground from buckwheat seeds, amaranth, and rice grass; it could also be dried from cactus fruits, cattail root, and beeweed flowers. Oils could be collected from sunflower seeds, walnuts, and the nuts of piñon pines and oak trees. Fruits like hackberry, cactus, yucca, rose, and grapes could be harvested throughout the year. With the help of the Montezuma Well located 6 miles upstream from the Castle the Sinagua Indians were able to irrigate their crops. The Indians would farm corn; which was their primary crop, beans and squash. They hunted game which included antelope, bear, dear, duck, muskrat, rabbit, and turtle. Being skilled craftsmen the Sinagua people made clay pots used for cooking and storing, tools which included axes, hammers, knives, and manos and metates used for grinding corn. Bones also were altered into awls and needles. They made their clothing from cotton and ornaments were made from local red stone, shells, and turquoise.
Anthropologists believed that the Sinagua priests tried to keep harmony and peace between the human world and the supernatural realm. Because of this there was no fear of ghosts like those found in other tribes so the Sinagua people often buried their infants in the floors of the parents rooms.
Due to the concern over vandalism of the fragile prehistoric sites of the southwest, on June 8th 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed The Antiquities Act of 1906 into law. This was the first law to establish the importance of archeological sites on public lands. On December 8th 1906 Montezuma Castle was proclaimed a National Monument and was one of the first. With its proclamation as a National Monument Montezuma Castle became a major part of the American historic preservation movement. At this monument along with Montezuma Well another dwelling may also be found. This dwelling is named Castle A. It is believed that this was the first attempt of the Sinagua people to build a stable dwelling. It was bigger in size consisting of around 40 to 45 rooms. It was also constructed in a number of terraces against the cliff’s face. This structure however was not protected from the elements as Montezuma Castle was and had also caught fire towards the end of its use.
Visiting this national treasure would benefit a student of history by being able to see one of the most durable man made dwellings in the United States. It would also be a lesson on the many uses for natural materials from the earth and a reminder that the world has always be inhabited by doers and thinkers.