This 13th-century Arizona cliff dwelling stayed hidden for 600 years until it was found by a runaway mule

Keet Seel’s Lost Ancient Cliff City Discovery

Deep in the canyons of northeastern Arizona sits Navajo National Monument, home to one of America’s best-preserved cliff dwellings.

The visitor center displays stunning Ancestral Puebloan artifacts and exhibits, but the real treasure lies in the backcountry where Keet Seel’s 150 rooms and 6 ceremonial kivas cling to a massive sandstone alcove.

This ancient apartment complex tells an incredible story of rapid construction, mysterious abandonment, and an accidental discovery that changed American archaeology forever.

Between 1272 and 1275, Ancestral Puebloan builders went on an extraordinary construction spree, creating dozens of rooms in just three years before vanishing completely.

The ruins stayed hidden for nearly 600 years until a runaway mule led explorer Richard Wetherill straight to what he called “the finest collection of pottery I have seen.”

Here’s how this remarkable cliff city was built, abandoned, and rediscovered.

Ancient Puebloans Found Their Perfect Home in a Canyon Alcove

Around 1250, Ancestral Puebloan people started living in a huge sandstone cave tucked in Tsegi Canyon. They faced it southeast to stay cool in hot summers while getting warm sun in winter.

Before building the main structures, they lived in simple pithouses.

People across the Southwest were moving into bigger, safer places where they could protect themselves better.

Workers Began Shaping Their Cliff City

Builders started work in the late 1240s using sandstone blocks with mud mortar and wooden beams. They built the pueblo in an arc that followed the cave’s natural curve.

Buildings stood one or two stories tall based on the cave floor’s slopes.

Each family had their own living space with one to six storage rooms, all built around shared courtyards. Workers used stone axes to shape materials and organize family areas.

Construction Exploded Into a Three-Year Building Frenzy

Between 1272 and 1275, building at Keet Seel went crazy fast. Dozens of new rooms went up as people moved to the settlement.

Workers built a huge 180-foot wall to keep the front of the village stable.

Digs later showed that builders organized the growing community into 25 separate room clusters, all under the protective cliff that kept them safe from weather.

Life Bustled in the Thriving Cliff Community

About 125-150 people lived in Keet Seel during its busiest time, according to archaeologist Jeffrey Dean. The finished site had more than 150 rooms, including special places for storing grain.

Residents built six kivas, round ceremonial rooms with fire pits, benches, air vents, and sacred floor holes called sipapus. Springs nearby gave them water to grow corn, beans, and squash in this dry area.

Daily Life Revealed Through Remarkable Craftsmanship

Many inside walls used upright posts with smaller sticks and reeds between them. Small corncobs found next to grinding stones show how people made corn meal for food.

The community made beautiful pottery, some pots measuring exactly two feet across with perfect balance. Their pottery styles included Kayenta black-on-white and Tusayan black-on-red patterns.

The Building Boom Gradually Slowed Down

After the busy building period ended in 1275, construction kept going but much slower. The last rooms went up until 1286, creating the mixed look visitors see today.

During these final years, the local environment still gave enough food for everyone and even extra. Yet across the Southwest, weather was getting harder, putting pressure on communities like Keet Seel.

All Hammers Fell Silent as Building Stopped Completely

Building stopped entirely in 1286. Tree-ring dating confirms this was the last year anyone cut trees for building in Ancestral Puebloan ruins across the Colorado Plateau.

Once construction ended, no new structures appeared before people left the site.

This happened during the Great Drought that started around 1276 and lasted until 1299, making life harder for residents.

The Cliff City Stood Empty for Centuries

Around 1300, after only about 20 years of peak living, everyone left Keet Seel.

Several things likely drove them away, including failed crops, little rain, and fights with neighboring groups. The Great Drought brought unpredictable rainfall until about 1450.

For nearly 600 years afterward, only local Navajo people knew about these ruins, staying away out of respect for ancestral spirits they believed lived there.

One Runaway Mule Led to an Amazing Discovery

In January 1895, Richard Wetherill camped in Tsegi Canyon when his lead mule broke free during the night and wandered off. The next morning, Wetherill followed the mule’s tracks through the canyon.

As he turned a corner, he saw a huge cave with a large cliff dwelling stretching wall to wall. Richard, his brother Al, and Charlie Mason spent days mapping the ruins.

They called it Keet Seel, which meant “broken pottery” in Navajo.

Treasure Trove of Ancient Artifacts Amazed Early Explorers

Wetherill’s formal dig began after his team left Mancos, Colorado in October 1896, finally reaching Keet Seel in March 1897.

Upon seeing the well-kept site, Wetherill wrote that he found “the finest collection of pottery I have seen.” His team’s notes, plans, photos, and artifacts went to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

They removed more than 100 skeletons and saved over 400 pieces of intact pottery, creating one of the most significant archaeological collections of that era.

Keet Seel Helped Save America’s Ancient Treasures

President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law on June 8, 1906, creating federal protection for archaeological sites.

The law came about specifically to stop the wholesale looting of sites across the American Southwest, including places like Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde.

President William Howard Taft established Navajo National Monument in 1909 as a 360-acre archaeological preserve protecting Keet Seel, Betatakin, and Inscription House.

Wetherill’s discoveries showed why America needed to protect these irreplaceable archaeological treasures.

Visiting Navajo National Monument

Navajo National Monument is free and open year-round, with the visitor center open daily from 9:00 a. m. to 5:00 p. m. featuring a museum about Keet Seel’s ancient building boom.

To see this archaeological treasure up close, you’ll need a backcountry permit for the ranger-guided overnight hike, limited to just 20 people daily.

Registration starts in March and includes a mandatory orientation. Be prepared for a tough 17-mile roundtrip hike requiring at least a gallon of water per person each day.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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