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Mesa Verde National ParkHistoric photo of Cliff Palace
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Mesa Verde National Park
History & Culture
 

On June 29, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park to "preserve the works of man," the first national park of its kind. Today, the continued preservation of both cultural and natural resources is the focus of the park's research and resource management staff.

 

 
View of Square Tower House





For cultural information on Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings and mesa top sites, click on Places.

 

 
Artist rendition of Ancestral Puebloan traders.

 


For information about the Ancestral Puebloans who lived at Mesa Verde, go to People.

 

 
Park Ranger archeologist documenting a wall in Spruce Tree House.


For information about Mesa Verde's Archeological Site Conservation program, current projects and research including stabilization, post fire site surveys, and architectural documentation, click on Preservation.

Balcony House
Visiting Cliff Dwellings
for information on visiting the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde
more...
Ancestral Puebloan black-on-white mug
Artifact Gallery
links to artifact gallery activity
more...
Zia Corn Dance  

Did You Know?
Descendants of Mesa Verde Ancestral Puebloans include the Hopi in Arizona, and the 19 Rio Grande pueblos of New Mexico: Taos, Picuris, Sandia, Isleta, San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Nambe, Tesuque, Jemez, Cochiti, Pojoaque, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Zia, Laguna, Acoma, and Zuni.

Last Updated: November 04, 2008 at 17:51 EST