A glimpse of the past: Gila cliff dwellings

After yet another wonderfully satisfying Mexican breakfast, which surely would sustain us for much of the rest of the day, we left Silver City a couple of days ago. I really liked this medium-sized town that felt like a place where I could live – not that I am looking for one. The landscape speaks to me with its tones of silver greens and greys and gently rounded hills. Depending into which direction one looks, however, there are also less beautiful things: as in any area rich in mineral resources mining has left its scars, sometimes visible from far away. Much as I lament this I can't rightly complain about it: I use these resources and am thankful that they are available, after all.

We took Hwy. 15 out of town, which immediately begins to climb through beautiful, forested country towards Pinos Altos (High Pines, a very fitting name since this area is home to large stands of Ponderosa pine). This is an interesting little town, almost deserted now but once obviously with grand aspirations: the 'opera house' and other buildings give witness to that. 

Once again we crossed the continental divide on this very curvy, very narrow road that had me hold my breath in a few places. If possible I avoided looking too closely when we rounded yet another hairpin curve, a steep drop right beside me, another pickup coming towards us just at that very moment. I was much too taken with the scenery, however, to worry much, and with Johann's slow and careful driving I felt quite safe. There was very little traffic, which, I imagine, will change in the summer. 

After about three quarters of an hour we reached the intersection with Hwy. 35 near Lake Roberts, and from then on the road was a bit wider and had a centre line. We continued to climb, but the landscape became more open, with gorgeous views from the ridge. Finally we started one long downhill stretch towards the Gila river and headed for the Gila cliff visitor centre, not very big but nicely set up with displays, a small room to watch a video of the Gila cliff dwellings and a well appointed book section. The helpful rangers gave us some good advice where to hike in the area, plus some instructions regarding the Gila cliff area itself, and we soon were on our way to see this very special place for ourselves. 

There is another small visitor centre right at the foot of the cliffs, and the ranger there gave concrete instructions to everybody visiting the ruins, pointing out that another ranger was up at the top to answer any questions arising there. The whole loop is a mile long and takes only about an hour to complete, and since we had about two and a half hours until closing time we walked slowly, enjoying the signs of spring now apparent everywhere: golden fumitory, the small herbaceous plant that had caught my eye on several occasions on our hikes around Silver City, buffalo bean, wild gooseberries and honeysuckle leafing out, even a single dandelion. 

The trail up ascends slowly along a little creek before the last steeper ascent via stone stairs. Here and there on the way up one can catch glimpses of the caves built into the cliffs about 55m above the canyon floor. 

Up at the top we walked on firm rock along the cave entrances. Here, members of the ancient Mogollón people built their pueblos inside these caves with rocks, mortar and timber somewhere in the late thirteenth century. There are a lot of unknowns because there are no written records nor oral traditions that explain exactly why they moved into these dwellings and chose to live high up in this canyon. It is assumed, however, that a 25-year drought and the resulting economic uncertainties and warfare caused a group of people to flee the lower lying areas and seek shelter here. It cannot have been an easy life: water had to be carried up from the creek below, and they grew corn on the mesa across the canyon, which is at about the same height as, if not higher up from the canyon bottom than the cliff dwellings. 

They built walls along the cave entrances and inside, creating rooms of different sizes that housed up to sixty people altogether. In most cases the walls don't reach all the way up to the cave ceiling but end about 50cm below so that the smoke from the fires used for heat and cooking could escape; the cave ceilings are blackened from it. The caves would have provided reasonably good protection from both the summer's heat and the winter's cold. 

Ancient cobs of corn

 Petrified corn has been found around the caves, and genetic testing proved that it was grown in the time when the Mogollón people settled here. Most of their food would have come from fishing, hunting and gathering, subsidized with the corn grown on the mesa. Pottery found in the caves showed that these people likely came from the Tularosa region about 60 miles to the north rather than being closely connected to the Mimbres people southeast of the Gila cliff dwellings, and finds of macaw feathers suggest that their trade routes went all the way down to central America. 

One of the caves has a t-shaped doorway found in the pueblo cultures further south but not often here, so this, too, shows a likely connection to other peoples of the Southwest. In one of the caves a few petroglyphs can still be found; we saw two depictions of men and one of a snake.

The inhabitants of these caves moved away after only a few decades around 1300. Why? Nobody can say for certain, but it was a time of many migrations in the Southwest, and likely the climatic and resulting economic conditions improved so that the cliff dwellers moved on to areas where the living was easier.