AVA.JO

NATIONAL MONUMENT • ARIZONA u. ARCHlVES &tPusi{e 'rt£1coRos The pottery found in Betatakin and the OCT 2.2 1991 other Segi cliff ruins is of exceptional quality, artistically painted, and includes both black• en-white ware and varieties of polychrome or U.S.DEPNAVA.I 0 "orangeware." NATIONAL MONUMENT KEET SEEL United States Department of the Interior, Oscar L. Chapman, Secretary Keet Seel is the largest cliff ruin in Arizona and one of the last to be abandoned in the PPP'PP2P1PP1PP Segi Canyon region. It may be reached by horse or on foot from Betatakin by an 11-mile -- trail, which is primitive and crosses the can• Perched high in their matchless settings, the three great yon stream many times, making the trip on cliff dwellings of Navajo National Monument are the most striking remains foot a difficult one. of ancient occupancy of the canyon country of northeastern Arizona. Horses may be obtained from the nearby Navajos through the superintendent of the monument. One full day is required for the FROM ABOUT A. D. 300 until about A. D. Anasazi reached its peak and then deterio• round trip. 1300 there lived in the San Juan. River drain• rated swiftly. A combination of circum• Keet Seel was discovered in 1893 by age near the "Four Corners" of Colorado, stances, chief of which probably were soil Richard Wetherill. It was partially exca• Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, Indians we erosion caused by poor agricultural practices vated and stabilized in 1934, and today still now call the Anasazi (a Navajo word which and disease brought about by lack of sanita• gives the impression that it might have been means "The Ancient Ones"). Before A. D. tion, resulted in a rapid loss of population. abandoned only a few years ago. Actually, 300 the Anasazi probably existed as small The remaining Anasazi abandoned the Ka• almost 700 years have passed since the Ana• bands who wandered over the colorful pla• yenta region shortly after A. D. 1300. sazi last lived in this cliff city. teau country hunting and trapping and Betatakin, meaning "Hillside House," is gathering nuts and seeds; it is possible that the most accessible ruin in the monument. Keet Seel Ruin INSCRIPTION HOUSE they also did a little haphazard farming. It is a well-preserved "apartment house," 700 About A. D. 300 farming became more im• years old. As determined by the tree-ring , Inscription House lies almost 20 miles in THE MONUMENT Monuments in New Mexico. portant in their economy. With a better and dating method, this ruin was occupied be• an air line west of Betatakin, the headquar• Navajo National Monument was estab• more dependable food supply population in• tween the years A. D. 1242 and approxi• ters area. This fine ruin, the smallest of the ACCOMMODATIONS AND SERVICE lished by Presidential proclamation on March creased, people began to be more sedentary, mately A. D. 1300. three (with approximately 7 5 rooms), was so TO THE PUBLIC A portion of Betatakin Ruin 20, 1909, and contains 360 acres of federally crafts improved, and more permanent homes Betatakin once had almost 150 rooms, of named because of an inscription found owned land. It is completely surrounded by Only designated campgrounds and picnic were built. By A. D. 1100 large villages of which more than 50 were residential, 6 cere• scratched into the plastered wall of one of among the central rooms an accumulation in the Navajo Indian Reservation and lies on benches are available in the monument, several hundred people each had been devel• monial (kivas), 13 open courts or patios, the rooms. Weather-beaten, little remains of which oaks 4 inches in diameter and varied the edge of a "roadless area" nearly 100 miles but trading posts and guest ranches in oped, as well as many smaller communities. about 30 storage, and 2 grinding rooms. The the original inscription. It is generally be• shrubbery had taken root. from paved highways. Kayenta, Tonalea, Goulding, Tuba City, As time passed, three cultural centers• last-mentioned are among the many rooms lieved to be of Spanish origin and to date In the canyon f renting Betatakin are tall, Shonto, and Rainbow Lodge offer modern really prehistoric tribes-had differentiated which are still well-preserved. from the 1660's, but the exact wording has slender quaking aspen; boxelder, Douglas• accommodations. from each other: the Chaco Canyon group, Betatakin is built on the sloping floor of a been variously reported. John Wetherill, RELATED AREAS fir, and pin yon deck the talus slopes; and Because of the need of protecting the ruins, in northwestern New Mexico; the Mesa great cave, carved by stream meander and from his second trip to Inscription House in juniper and pinyon cap the bordering cliffs. Other cliff dwellings in the National Park and the difficult unmarked trails by which Verde, in southwestern Colorado ; and the wind erosion in the side of a soft, red, sand• 1909, remembered the inscription thus: Betatakin was discovered in 1909 by Byron System include those in Canyon de Chelly, they are reached, no one is allowed to enter Kayenta, in northeastern Arizona. stone cliff which forms the sheer and vertical Cummings and the late John Wetherill, and CHOS Walnut Canyon, Montezuma Castle, and any ruin unless accompanied by a guide. The three cliff dwellings of Navajo Na• 500-foot north wall of a picturesque and was excavated and stabilized in 1917 by Neil 1661 Ad n Tonto National Monuments in Arizona; Betatakin may be viewed from the binocu• tional Monument represent this third group. beautiful canyon. The cave roof projects far M. Judd, of the Smithsonian Institution. Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado ; and lar station on Betatakin Point at any time, In these villages the culture of the Kayenta out over the village. Sand storms had piled with more letters which were illegible. Bandelier and Gila Cliff Dwellings National with or without a guide. Cover: Betatakin Ruin NAVAJO NATIONAL MONUMENT AND VICINITY

arble Canyon NAVAJO BRIDGE \INSCRIPTION HOUSE 467 Feet ABOVE RUIN ,• ~OLORADO NAVAJO ------/ J RIVER NATIONAL H MONUMENT '\\ ,, WESTERN 89 _\~ }.},'=o NAVAJO

\;~~ % INDIAN .)'\Tuba City

Inscription House Ruin

Trips to Betatakin should start at 9 a. m. ment of the Interior. The Superintendent, or 1 P: m.; and to Keet Seel at 8 a. m. Navajo National Monument, is in immediate charge and inquiries regarding the monument should be addressed to him at Tonalea, Ariz. Pine ADMINISTRATION f1To 80 Miles Monument headquarters are located near Scale Navajo National Monument is a part of Betatakin, and visitors to outlying areas may 10 20 30 40 Miles the National Park System administered by the obtain information and guidance by calling

National Park Service, United States Depart- there first. Revised 1951 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1951-0-939166 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C.-Price $3.75 per 100 copies