Navajo guides refused to enter this Colorado valley – and you can still see why today

Ancestral Puebloans’ Astronomical Towers at Haunted Hovenweep

The stone towers of Hovenweep stand as proof of ancient genius.

Around 1200 CE, some 2,500 Ancestral Puebloans built six villages with tall stone structures that tracked the sky.

At Hovenweep Castle, they added a “sun room” in 1277 with ports that cast light on walls during solstices and equinoxes.

The site stayed hidden until 1854, when Mormon missionary William Huntington found it despite his Native guides warning the ruins were haunted.

Later, photographer William Jackson named it “Hovenweep” or “deserted valley.”

The towers still cast their ancient shadows at this National Monument where you can walk among these astronomical wonders yourself.

Hunter-Gatherers Roamed Hovenweep For 10,000 Years

People lived in the tough Cajon Mesa area for nearly 10,000 years before the famous towers showed up.

Early Paleo-Indians left traces dating back to 8000 BCE, with Archaic-Early Basketmaker folks coming around 6000 BCE.

These wandering tribes visited with the seasons, hunting game and gathering nuts, seeds, and fruit. Experts found twenty sites proving their lifestyle.

Water was hard to find and plants were scarce, making life rough for the small hunting groups who first called this place home.

Farming Changed Everything For Ancient Mesa Dwellers

Corn, beans, and squash came from Mexican traders about 2,000 years ago, completely changing how people lived at Hovenweep.

Basketmaker cultures started making clay pots, settled in one place, and grew crops instead of always moving around.

Small groups built stepped fields with smart water systems. Lasting homes popped up with pit houses and storage spots tucked under canyon edges. They wove turkey feathers into blankets and got better at hunting with new bows and arrows.

The First Towers Rose Around 1000 CE

Builders put up the first one-story towers using better stone methods around 1000 CE.

The number of people grew fast with homes spreading across the mesa tops. These skilled workers used big stone blocks with smaller rocks filling gaps.

They built right on bumpy rock surfaces without evening out the ground. Communities moved from mesa tops to canyon heads around 1100 CE to be closer to springs.

Master Builders Created Six Stone Villages

Between 1150-1200 CE, about 2,500 Ancestral Puebloans built six villages with striking stone towers throughout Hovenweep.

These buildings came in many shapes – square, round, oval, and D-shaped – with some as tall as 30 feet. The huge building project included multi-floor homes, dams, water tanks, and irrigation.

Workers finished Hovenweep Castle’s main building in 1166 CE. They placed towers near kivas for ceremonies, with few ways in and narrow slots for looking outside.

Sun Room Added As Precise Solar Calendar

Most standing buildings went up between 1230-1275 CE during the peak of Pueblo III building.

Workers added Hovenweep Castle’s special “sun room” in 1277 CE, over a hundred years after the main castle.

This room had openings and doors lined up perfectly to catch sunlight during solstices and equinoxes. The inside walls worked as a sun calendar with light hitting certain spots on door frames at key times of year.

Tree-ring dating from roof beams confirms 1277 CE as one of the last building dates in the San Juan area.

Towers Tracked The Stars And Seasons

Holly House had spiral carvings that sunlight would cut through like “sun daggers” during solstices and equinoxes.

Buildings across all six villages had star-watching features for both practical and spiritual reasons. The towers served as star observatories, defense points, storage areas, and living spaces.

Sun watching methods included horizon calendars and light patterns on inside walls – methods modern Pueblo peoples still use today.

The builders clearly knew star movements and used this knowledge in their daily lives and farming plans.

Everyone Left Within A Generation

A terrible dry spell hit in the late 1200s and lasted 23 years, putting heavy pressure on the communities. Crops failed while too many people lived on land that couldn’t feed them all.

People throughout the Four Corners region left smaller settlements around the same time, near 1300 CE.

The Ancestral Puebloans moved south to Hopi mesas in Arizona and Rio Grande pueblos in New Mexico. Hovenweep became almost empty by 1350 CE, ending over 700 years of people living there without a break.

Native Tribes Kept The Ruins’ Memory Alive

Ute and Navajo groups moved into the area between 1400-1500 CE and found the empty buildings.

These tribes kept stories about the sites and their former residents for hundreds of years. Their spoken history saved knowledge about who built the structures and why they left.

Native guides thought the towers were haunted and warned others not to bother them. The sites stayed mostly untouched for over 500 years thanks to native caretaking.

Mormon Missionary Ignored Warnings About Ghosts

Mormon missionary William D. Huntington led a group for Brigham Young into Utah territory in 1854.

His Ute and Navajo guides told him the old buildings were haunted and begged everyone to stay away. Huntington ignored their worries and became the first white American on record to see the ruins.

He wrote about his find in the Deseret News back in Salt Lake City, giving people their first printed story of the strange towers.

This happened during Mormon spread into southwestern lands as Brigham Young sent scouts throughout the region.

A Photographer Gave Hovenweep Its Name

William Henry Jackson took photos of the ruins in 1874 while working on the Hayden Survey.

Jackson picked up the Ute/Paiute word “Hovenweep,” which means “deserted valley” – a perfect description of the empty landscape.

His photographs brought national attention to the amazing ancient architecture.

Smithsonian researcher J. Walter Fewkes checked out the sites in 1917-1918 and found widespread damage from looting and vandalism.

Fewkes urged the government to protect the ruins after seeing how collectors and ranchers had damaged many structures.

President Harding Protected The Towers In 1923

Warren G. Harding declared Hovenweep a National Monument on March 2, 1923.

The government established the monument to save “unique prehistoric structures” and what they called “the finest prehistoric masonry in the United States.”

The protected area covered 785 acres containing six village sites, now managed by the National Park Service.

This protection came during a bigger push to save archaeological sites. The designation ensured the survival of towers that early explorers nicknamed “castles” because they looked like tiny fortresses.

Visiting Hovenweep National Monument, Colorado

You can explore these mysterious Ancestral Puebloan stone towers at McElmo Route in Cortez for $20 per vehicle (cards only).

The visitor center opens 10am-3pm but closes Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Take the 0. 82-mile hike to Hovenweep Castle, which takes about an hour round-trip.

The monument is certified as an International Dark Sky Park for stargazing programs, and rangers offer guided hikes and campfire talks to learn about these astronomical observatories built between 1200-1300 CE.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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