Tuzigoot National Monument, Near Clarkdale, Arizona

This National Monument was named
by an Apache member of the
excavation crew.




He recommended the area be named after a nearby water source.  Tuzigoot means "crooked water," for the nearby oxbow in the Verde River.

Construction on this pueblo

started around 1000 AD, at

the top of the hill.

Following rooms were built further and further down the hill as the community grew.

There are only five doors
in this pueblo.

The builders used hatches
on the roof & used ladders
to access the rooms.

The Sinagua Indians who farmed

here had a commanding

view of the valley.

Eric heads towards the top
of the pueblo.

Archaeological evidence shows

that the Sinagua farmers had

an extensive trade route

 that extended to the 

Gulf of California & Mexico.

The Sinagua were known for their stone tools, fabric and baskets.  They traded salt, copper, argillite for pottery from the Hopi and Anasazi.

I imaging fertile fields
in the distance.





The population here grew to about 230 in 1300 AD.  The Sinagua left this valley around 1450 AD.  As with the Sinagua of Montezuma Castle, there's no evidence left behind of why they left the area.

Tuzigoot was excavated in 1933-1934 by archaeologists Louis R. Caywood and Edward H. Spicer with assistance from the Federal Emergency Relief Agency's Civil Works Administration.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt established Tuzigoot a National Monument on July 25, 1939.

The ruins of Tuzigoot were

reinforced with mortar heavy

in cement in the 1930s.

This mortar is being carefully chipped away & replaced with softer mortar that will better preserve the remaining historical materials.

I'm glad Eric and I have been able to visit the ruins in the Verde Valley, and at Montezuma Castle.  We are fascinated by the growth of these communities and we wonder why the Sinagua left the valley around 1450 AD.