became the new ground surface.

Salts left by the evaporation of water were also deposited on the lake bottom. A deposit of this type can now be seen near Camp Verde. Although the formation is principally sodium carbonate, sodium chloride (common table salt) and sodium sulphate are also found. For many centuries early Indians mined salt deposits in this locality and a few years ago a deposit of sodium sulphate near Camp Verde was worked commercially.

The same streams which brought lime in solution to the lake were sometimes turned into torrents by desert cloudbursts. At such times, they became muddy and left sand and silt among the lime deposits which were accumulating on the bottom of the lake. When the lake drained away, these deposits were exposed to erosion—the clay and silt were softer than the lime and eroded more rapidly leaving irregular cavities and caves of all sizes. It is in one of these caves that the Indians built Montezuma Castle.

Today the pitted and jagged surface of the cliff appears like crumbling limestone. In places it is so soft it can be removed by the pressure of a finger.

After the ancient lake drained, rain and melting snows from higher elevations continued to find their way into the valley where the water seeped below the ground, dissolving the limestone as it went. Underground river channels and caves were slowly formed by this water.

One such channel, leading from a cave, was eventually cut through from the surface by the eroding waters of Beaver Creek. This allowed the water in the underground cave to pour out into the creek. The roof of the cave, weakened by the removal of this water and by solution cracks forming from the surface, soon collapsed to form Montezuma Well as it is seen today. It is due to this action that the Well is technically referred to as a limestone sink.

Thus the slow, but powerful forces of earth shaped the Verde Valley into a congenial environment for man.

Man in the Verde Valley

The first human occupation of central Arizona began several thousand years ago. Very little is known about these Indians, but there is archeological evidence which indicates that they were hunters and food gatherers. These people had no pottery, and probably had no permanent houses or farms. The only objects recovered from their campsites have been their crude stone tools. One such site was discovered and investigated a short distance north of Montezuma Castle National Monument in 1949.

Shortly after A. D. 600, the Verde Valley attracted another group of people. They were farmers who came from the south, near the vicinity of modern Phoenix. We call these people of southern Arizona, who were the first known permanent settlers in the Verde Valley, the “Hohokam.” They planted their crops in the bottom lands and built their houses on the adjacent terraces so they could overlook their fields. Their homes of poles, brush, and mud were individual dwellings large enough to house one family.

Utensils in the home were few, but important. They consisted of plain, unpolished, gray-brown pottery, used to hold water and food; grinding stones on which corn, nuts, and berries were ground; and hammerstones for crushing or mashing food. Also, such objects as scrapers for working hides, points for arrows, and knives for skinning game have been recovered by archeologists.

The Hohokam built a specialized structure not found among other prehistoric Indians of the Southwest. It was a prepared court, oval in shape, which bears a close similarity to the ball courts of Mexico. They may have played a game of some type on these courts which had some connection with their ceremonial rites, such as appears to have been the case in Central America. These people also had another trait which set them apart from other tribes—they cremated their dead.

There is no evidence of Hohokam occupation at Montezuma Castle, but remains of Hohokam type are found at Montezuma Well. We can imagine that a party of Indian colonists, about 1200 years ago, was very pleased to discover the Well and was as startled as we are to find a lake inside a hill.

In looking further, the Hohokam found the outlet on the south side of the Well through which a steady stream of water flowed, falling into Beaver Creek a few feet away. Here was a place to live! If this water could be diverted to the nearby flatlands, they would no longer need to depend on rain for their crops.

The Indians set about their task. They fashioned some stone hoes and dug a small section of ditch at the base of the cliff between the Well and Beaver Creek. After reaching the proper depth, a brush dam was made and the water was diverted from the outlet. Eager eyes watched the water enter and gradually fill their ditch. Another section was dug and water was again turned into it. High spots were noted and dug lower so the water would flow through. Rocky obstructions were broken with stone picks and river rocks. Sometimes the ground was too hard for their hoes, and water was allowed to flow in to soften it. Gradually their ditch was lengthened until it reached the flats which they planned to farm.

Their work was not yet complete, for the fields had to be cleared. Brush was cut, and fires were built at the base of large trees to burn the trunks until they weakened and fell.

Aerial view showing Montezuma Well and Beaver Creek.

Rocks which were cleared from the farm areas were lined up to mark the edges of small plots. Dirt was thrown over these rocks so water would not escape when the plots were irrigated. Some of the brush was saved for making dams to divert water from the main ditch to each of the farm plots. Small limbs from fallen trees were fashioned into digging and planting sticks. The fields were leveled with their stone hoes and tree limbs were dragged over the soil in a final smoothing process.

Yucca-fiber sandal made by prehistoric Indians of Montezuma Castle.

Finally they were ready for their planting. They had brought seeds of food crops—corn, beans, and squash—which were planted in these plots. Cotton was also planted. Then the water was turned onto the fields to complete their labor.

During the course of their pioneering work, this small group of Indians probably lived on the edge of the bluff above the fields and in three small caves along the bluff bordering their ditch. Food was not lacking, as the plants in the area provided them with many essentials. Mesquite beans, a common staple among the Indians, were plentiful in the late summer and autumn, as were walnuts, berries, wild gourds, and sunflower seeds.

Other plants, particularly yucca, supplied necessary fibers for making sandals, matting, cordage, baskets, and other articles. Reeds and hardwoods were available to make bows and arrows and other wooden implements for hunting rabbits and ducks around the Well. Hunting parties no doubt went to the foothills for larger game such as deer.

At about the same time that the Hohokam were in the valley, another group of Indians whom we call the “Sinagua,” lived in the forested foothills to the north and east, and on the plateau above. Their small villages were located in open areas that could be dry farmed, as they depended on rain water for their crops. Their houses, like those of the Hohokam, were made of poles, brush, and mud; however, they were dug into the ground, with just a small portion of the walls and the