Customer Reviews

Mesa Verde National Park: The First 100 Years

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(Foreword is by Ben Nighthorse Campbell and dedicated to 24 Native American tribes associated with Mesa Verde National Park, including Hope Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute and numerous other Pueblo Tribes.)

In the foreword, Campbell says that two centuries before Columbus arrived (1200-1300), the Ancestral Puebloans left their stone cities--to be "discovered" later by future generations.

In June 26,1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the act that made Mesa Verde a national park, the only park created to preserve archaeological findings. This is their 100th anniversary celebration year.

If you have visited the ancient cliff dwellings, you know how awesome and awe-inspiring they are. Just think: Something built so many centuries ago is available for 21st century eyes. Today humans and the environmental pollution are damaging the structure.

Located at the "four-corner" counties of the Southern Rockies--where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado meet, it is in the same country as the Bryce and Grand Canyons.

Mesa Verde: The First 100 Years coffee table book has photos of people climbing and sitting on the cliff dwellings. I am not sure if that is still allowed, however I did walk there in the early 1970s.

The four-color photos of the area show the cliff dwellings and the beautiful nature that surrounds it. Anal Hall's 1947 photo on page 109 of the Cliff Dwelling is what I remember so well.

The area has long been inspiration for artists and writers. Louis L'Amour even had a New York Times Best Seller that featured the cliff dwellings, Haunted Mesa.

Why did the Puebloans move into the cliff and build there--and why did they leave? No one really knows.

Armchair Interviews says: If you have visited Mesa Verde, you will want this book as a keepsake. If you see this book, you will want to visit Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde National Park is the only one of our national parks where archaeological history is the focus. Other National Parks preserve ecological, biological or geological areas - all wonderful. This book is a lovely history of Mesa Verde National Park with reproductions of early photos and other documents.

Excellent abbreviated overview related to the establishment of Mesa Verde National Park. Just enought to satisfy your curiosity and interest

I purchased this book for a summer class I was teaching. The class was taking trip to Mesa Verde National Park and I needed to be able to explain to them the significance of this park. The book was perfect in explaining the geography, early explorers and how the area became a national park. The book is bigger and wider than most book but I was able to show the beautiful crisp pictures to my classes. This book is a good choice for those wanting to learn about Mesa Verde National Park and look at the terrain and archology there.