Her brother Douglass was working for the Southern Pacific at Winslow, Arizona, at the time and while visiting him she traveled to Indian missions, Anasazi Indian
cliff dwellings, and the Grand Canyon.
To include these talks would have revealed the extent to which even those individuals with the best of intentions for the
cliff dwellings also "meant to realize on them" to borrow the words of Tom Outland's worldly companion Rodney Blake (Professor's House 244).
The ancient
cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde rest atop a "sky island," so reaching them requires an hour-long drive up a winding mountain road after passage through the entrance gate.
The park's 800-year-old
cliff dwellings are so ubiquitous in textbooks and museum dioramas, you imagine you won't be awestruck when you see them in person.
Those unable to take a guided tour are permitted to hike the fairly arduous 2.5-mile round-trip trail to the White House, a spectacular example of an early ancestral Puebloan
cliff dwelling named for a long wall covered in white plaster.
* Nestled in a desert valley above Roosevelt Lake in central Arizona, the 1,120-acre monument features
cliff dwellings that were once home to the Salado people.
The balance of the project time is spent at the
cliff dwelling, working on designated walls.
Today there are nearly 5,000 known archaeological sites in the park, including 600 spectacularly located
cliff dwellings, with a variety of ranger-led walks and hiking trails.
This was the same time that the Anasazi Indians abandoned their
cliff dwellings due to extended drought that also engulfed the Southwest.
This area contains among the highest concentration of
cliff dwellings and evidence of ancient human use, though it is difficult to attribute Arizona walnut distribution to human use.
During a stay, guests can also explore the Colorado's historic areas to take a stroll through ancient
cliff dwellings, walk in dinosaur tracks, visit one of the many restored trading forts, view mountain vistas, and listen to traditional cowboy music or upbeat mountain jazz.