Chaco Canyon is hosting the densest and most exceptional concentration of pueblos in the American Southwest. The park is located in northwestern New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Farmington, in a relatively inaccessible canyon cut by the Chaco Wash. Containing the most sweeping collection of ancient ruins north of Mexico, the park preserves one of America's most fascinating cultural and historic areas.
Between AD 900 and 1150, Chaco Canyon was a major center of culture for the ancient pueblo people - they quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances, assembling fifteen major complexes which remained the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century. The Chaco sites are part of the homeland of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona, and the Navajo Indians of the Southwest.
Chaco Culture preserves a very special chapter in human history and is comprised of several sites - Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Aztec Ruins National Monument and five units administered by the Bureau of Land Management: Twin Angels, Casamero, Kin Nizhoni, Pierre's Site, and Halfway House.
Between AD 850 and 1250, Chaco Canyon was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture. Many diverse clans and peoples helped to create a ceremonial, trade, and administrative center whose architecture, social organization and community life was unlike anything before or since.
Chaco is remarkable for its monumental public and ceremonial buildings and its distinctive architecture. The Chacoan people combined pre-planned architectural designs, astronomical alignments, geometry, landscaping, and engineering to create an ancient urban center of spectacular public architecture. Chaco was connected to over 150 communities throughout the region by engineered roads and a shared vision of the world.
Evidence of astronomy at Chaco has been proposed, with the "Sun Dagger" petroglyph at Fajada Butte being a popular example. Many Chaco buildings may have been aligned to capture the solar and lunar cycles, requiring generations of astronomical observations and centuries of skillfully coordinated construction.
The Chacoan people did not just "disappear" when they left the Four Corners area (shared state border area of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colrado) in the 13th century. They migrated from this area, moving south, east and west to join relatives living on the Hopi mesas, along the Rio Grande and around Zuni Mountain. Chaco's influence continued at Aztec, Mesa Verde, the Chuska Mountains, and other centers to the north, south, and west. In time, the people shifted away from Chacoan ways, migrated to new areas, reorganized their world, and eventually interacted with foreign cultures. Their descendants are the modern Southwest Indians. Many Southwest Indian peoples today look upon Chaco as an important stop along their clans' sacred migration paths - a spiritual place to be honored and respected.
The Hopi place name for Chaco Canyon is Yupkoyvi, "the place beyond the horizon." Ten clans of the Hopi consider Chaco Canyon part of their ancestral homeland. All 20 Pueblos of New Mexico and the Hopi regard the Four Corners area as part of their ancestral homelands. Modern Pueblo peoples retain a strong physical and spiritual connections to Chaco and other Four Corners area cultural sites. Many clans trace a direct relationship to Chaco. The Pueblos of Acoma, Zia, Cochiti, Laguna, San Felipe, Santo Domingo and Zuni all have oral traditions that tell of clans migrating from Chaco and the surrounding areas. Ten Hopi clans trace their ancestry to Chaco. Chaco is honored in the prayers and songs told in many Puebloan languages.
The Navajo, while not Puebloan people, also have ceremonies, stories and place names relating to Chaco. In traditional Navajo stories, Chaco Canyon is Tse' biyahnii'a'ah, the home of the Great Gambler. The Navajo trace the origins of several of their clans back to Chaco.
For Pueblo peoples, Chaco and other cultural sites are sacred places. Rather than viewing them as "abandoned," Pueblo peoples believe that the spirits of their ancestors still inhabit these places. The ancestral homes remain special places to visit, to pray and to honor the spirits of ancestors.
Great Houses
Immense complexes known as "Great Houses" were key centers exemplifying Chacoan architectural and worship styles. Although forms evolved as the centuries passed, the houses maintained several core characteristics. Most notable is their sheer bulk; most complexes in Chaco Canyon averaged more than 200 rooms each, with some reaching up to 700 rooms. The sizes of individual rooms were also substantial, with high ceilings when compared to buildings erected in preceding Anasazi periods. They were also well-planned, with vast sections or wings erected in a single stage, rather than in increments. Houses are generally oriented to face the south, with plaza areas almost always enclosed by edifices of sealed-off rooms or high walls. The predominantly multistory constructions often stood four to five stories tall, with single-story rooms facing directly onto the plaza; room blocks were terraced so that the tallest sections composed the pueblo's rear edifice. Rooms were often organized into suites, with front rooms larger than rear, interior, and storage rooms or areas.
Ceremonial structures known as kivas were built in proportion to the number of rooms in a pueblo. On average, one small kiva was built for every 29 rooms. Nine complexes also each hosted an oversized Great Kiva, which could range up to 63 feet in diameter. All Chacoan kivas share distinctive architectural features, including T-shaped doorways and stone lintels. Though simple and compound walls were also built, Great Houses were primarily constructed of core-and-veneer walls: two parallel load-bearing walls comprising dressed, flat sandstone blocks bound in clay mortar were erected. The gap between the walls was filled with rubble, which then formed the wall's core. Walls were then covered in a veneer of small sandstone pieces, which were pressed into a layer of binding mud. These surfacing stones were often placed to create distinctive patterns. Taken together, the Chacoan constructions required the wood of over 200,000 coniferous trees, which were mostly hauled - on foot - from mountain ranges up to 70 miles away.
Discovery
Chacoan architecture was discovered by the Mexican Republic in 1822, and references to Pueblo Bonito appeared as early as 1844. The area was transfered to the United States in 1946. The name "Chaco" was first used by Lt. James H. Simpson of the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Chaco is probably the Anglicized version of Chaca or Chacat, which is probably from the Spanish transliteration of the Navajo name for Chacra Mesa, namely Tzak Aih - "white string of rocks."
The first large scale scientific excavation in Chaco Canyon began in 1896, when George H. Pepper, and Richard and Clayton Wetherill began excavating Pueblo Bonito under the guidance of Harvard University and the sponsorship of Talbot and Fred Hyde, Jr.. The 1896 collection, filling one freight car, was shipped to New York City's American Museum. From 1896 through 1900, the Hyde Exploring Expedition excavated and documented many sites in Chaco Canyon, mostly gathering artifacts from older refuse-filled rooms in Pueblo Bonito.
Hungo Pavi (crooked nose or reed spring village) is an unexcavated Great House containing over 150 rooms, a great kiva, and an enclosed plaza. It is a good example of what Chacoan sites look like without excavations - covered with a protective blanket of wind-blown sand and native vegetation.
Located near Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl is one of the largest pueblos in Chaco Canyon. It bears the typical D-shape of many other central complexes, but is slightly smaller.
This is the most important site in the canyon and a must for all visitors. Pueblo Bonito is the most thoroughly investigated and celebrated cultural site in Chaco Canyon. Planned and constructed in stages between AD 850 and AD 1150 by ancestral Puebloan peoples, this was the center of the Chacoan world.
Located near Pueblo Bonito at the side drainage known as South Gap, the pueblo was built in stages over a relatively short time. Pueblo Del Arroyo means “House by the Stream” or “Village by the Wash”.
Kin Kletso (Yellow House) is a medium-sized Great House with about 55 rooms, four kivas, and a tower kiva. It shows strong evidence of construction and occupation by Pueblo peoples from the northern San Juan Basin. Its rectangular shape and design is related to the Pueblo II cultural group, rather than the Pueblo III style or its Chacoan variant.
This hike is probably the best in Chaco Culture National Park. You will go past three different sets of ruins (Kin Kletso, Pueblo Alto and New Alto), and you get wonderful views of Kin Kletso, Casa Rinconada, Pueblo del Arroyo, Pueblo Bonito, and Chetro Ketl from the cliff above.
Located on a mesa flat due north of Pueblo Bonito, this great house is thought to have been built between 1020 and 1050 AD. Serving the area residents as a community house, archeological evidence suggests periodic episodes of occupancy and feasting.
Casa Chiquita is Spanish and means “very little house”. It is located near the old north road to the entrance of the canyon and is thought to have been built around 1100 AD.
Blanco, Spanish for "white cliff," is a large arc shaped great house built in five different stages, between 900 and 1125 AD. Sitting atop the northernmost point of West Mesa, the pueblo overlooks the confluence of the Chaco and Escavada Washes.
On the south side of Chaco Wash, almost direct across from Pueblo Bonito, stands the largest known great kiva in the park. With no surrounding residential or support structures, it was once utilized for religious activities and ceremonies. The trail leading to the great kiva passes several villages.
Directions
From the north, follow US 550 and then turn onto CR 7900 - about 3 miles after you have reached Nageezi or approx. 50 miles west of Cuba (at mile 112.5). This route is clearly signed from US 550 to the park boundary (21 miles). The route includes 8 miles of paved road (CR 7900) and 13 miles of rough dirt road (CR7950).
From the south, follow US 371 until you reach Crownpoint and then turn onto road 9 which runs between Crownpoint, Pueblo Pintado, and Cuba. Follow road 9 for about 13 miles and then locate road 57 to your left. Follow road 57 (20 miles of dirt road) until you reach the park.
The northern and southern routes include 13 and 20 miles of dirt roads, respectively. These sections of road are infrequently maintained, and they can become impassable during bad weather.
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