Cliff dwellings some of the last vestiges of Salado people
Tonto National Monument's cliff dwellings look out over a dry, rugged central Arizona landscape known as the Tonto Basin. It does not look like farm country, to say the least. But a group of American Indians known as the Salado people grew crops in this region for more than a century.
Today, Roosevelt Lake dominates the landscape, so it's hard to imagine a time when there was just a river — a muddy, erratic stream the Salado diverted into irrigation ditches.
"We see people from all over the world, certainly from all over the country," said Will Moore, a volunteer at the monument. Their reactions to this part of the Sonoran Desert range from amazed to belligerent, Moore said on a January day as he stood near the lower cliff dwelling. He remembers an Iowa farmer looking out at the hills of cactus below and saying, "You can't grow corn here!"
But the Salado did. Also, squash, beans and cotton. They harvested a variety of foods, including mesquite beans, saguaro fruit, jojoba beans, piñon nuts, walnuts, acorns and prickly-pear fruit.
Little is known about where the Salado people came from and where they went after they moved on from this basin.
"They're an anomaly," said Peg Lavoie, a volunteer at the monument.
Before the Salado people, the Southwest was largely occupied by Hohokam and Pueblo cultures. Archaeologists still debate why various villages from both cultures collapsed over time. Possible reasons include drought, warfare, religious upheaval and flooding. Both cultures ebbed and flowed, and migrations were common.
Sometime around 1250, newcomers showed up in the Tonto Basin, which until then had been under Hohokam influence. A new culture emerged, one that took on both Hohokam and Pueblo traits, said Duane Hubbard, acting superintendent at the monument. They developed a new style of polychrome pottery, which villages in Mexico eventually began to copy.
Their structures — platform mounds (multiroom buildings constructed on raised mounds), residential compounds and cliff dwellings — reflected aspects of Pueblo and Hohokam architecture. Archaeologists named the people after the Salt River — "salado" is Spanish for salty — which they used for irrigation.
At their peak, thousands of Salado people lived in the Tonto Basin — more people than live there today.
Drought was a problem along the Salt River, just as it is today, but so was flooding, which was hard on irrigation systems. In the late 1300s, after a series of floods, new migrations began, and the Salado began to leave the area.
By about 1450, they were gone.
In the late 1800s, when American settlers arrived, the Salt River was still unpredictable. In 1907, when Tonto National Monument was created, construction of a dam to help tame the river was under way. You could still see Salado irrigation canals in those days.
Wind, rain and the filling of Roosevelt Lake have buried much of what the Salado people built. Two cliff dwellings, somewhat shielded from the elements, are the centerpiece of the monument.
The lower dwelling is open for self-guided tours every day except Christmas.
The upper dwelling is open from November through April and can be visited by guided tour only.
Photo tours to the upper dwelling are offered in winter and spring. They are open to amateur and professional photographers and are limited to seven people. Volunteers Rex and Peg Lavoie lead the tours. They got the idea when they saw how much time visitors on the upper-dwelling tours were spending setting up and breaking down their camera gear.
"It seemed like whenever we went on a tour, we were always running up ahead or falling back behind," said Rex, who spent his working life as a photojournalist and aerial photographer before opening a studio in Ohio.
Peg, also an accomplished photographer, fields questions about the dwellings and Salado culture. Rex talks about f-stops, shutter speeds, light and composition.
The lower cliff dwelling is reached by a half-mile paved trail.
The 1.5-mile trail to the upper dwelling starts out along a spring and then enters a wash that slowly gains elevation. A few sycamores and other trees provide shade. After awhile, the trail climbs a series of switchbacks that lead to the dwelling. The tours are popular with families on weekends.
"The great thing about the Saturday tours is I often get kids on the tours," Moore said. The park also has a Junior Ranger program.
Visitors to the lower ruin who look closely at the walls will see smoke residue from Salado fires and imprints from Salado hands. Touching the walls is not allowed, but using your imagination is encouraged.
"You can see the handprints where people touched the mud," Rex Lavoie said.
Tonto National Monument
When: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Closed on Christmas.
Where: The monument is about 110 miles from central Phoenix. Take U.S. 60 east to Globe/Miami. Turn left on Arizona 188 and go 25 miles northwest to the signed entrance.
Admission: $3, free for age 15 and younger.
Tours: The lower cliff dwelling is open for self-guided tours all year. The upper dwelling is open from November through April and can be seen only by guided tour. The tour covers 3 miles and lasts three to four hours. There is no extra charge, but reservations are required. Wildflower tours may be offered in March if staffing permits; call or check the calendar on the website. Four-hour photo tours will be offered March 6, March 20, April 3 and April 17. There is no extra charge, but reservations are required.
Heritage Days: The monument will host its annual Heritage Days event from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 15-16. The event will feature American Indian artists, displays and demonstrations. The upper-ruin trail will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is no admission charge during Heritage Days.
Details: 928-467-2241, nps.gov/tont.