Mesa Verde

This is a typical little town in the rockies! This town is Durango,Colorado.

As you can tell (maybe not) the Rocky Mt. are in the background. This picture was taken from the library.It is a long drive to any BIG town from here.

After Durango, we went on to a little town called Mancos. There, we stopped to stay to see Mesa Verde. (that means Green Table in Spanish. They call it green table because it is a flat top Mt. with lots of green growth on top.)

The people who lived here (Yr.800-1300) were called Anasazi. They were ancient people. They built Cave Dwellings that had 50 rooms or more. In each home a living room would have a hole in the floor. The hole was a path to the underworld where they believed people began. They would also have a basement like room under their main living area. This room was called a Kiva and was like a church. They would go there to pray for good crops, rain, and a good hunt. They would also have ceremonies inside the Kiva.

The top of the Mesa was cleared for farming. They grew corn and squash. They had to grow a lot in case of a drought. To get to their crops they had to climb steep cliffs. It was a lot like rock climbing! They would hold on to rocks that were sticking out of the cliff.

Today, we woke up to see snow! The snow was wet and coming down hard! But, soon the sun came out and the snow melted little by little. I hope the weather clears up so we can see the Cave Dwellings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!