The homes we now refer to as the Gila Cliff Dwellings were built beginning around 1276. The rivers in the area provided a constant source of water, a necessity in the desert and probably the reason the people who built these dwellings chose this location. While they were contemporaries of the people we now call the Ancestral Puebloans, differences in their construction styles, pottery and art have caused archaeologists to give them a different name and we refer to them as the Mogollon. The time that the Mogollon spent in these dwellings, approximately 25 years, coincides with prolonged drought in the area which caused many groups to move in search of water. It seems that the Mogollon moved into these alcoves near the beginning of the drought, and left as it was ending. When looking at history, it’s easy to think of 25 years as the blink of an eye, but it’s a whole generation of children growing to adulthood and having their own babies and adults moving into the roles of elders as elders pass on. There was love and loss and laughter as this group passed the time farming, hunting, building, creating and growing.
The Mogollon seem to have moved on around 1300 as the drought was coming to its end and these isolated dwellings likely remained empty for quite some time. The Chiricahua Apache migrated to the region in the 1500s and the great leader Geronimo was born near the headwaters of the Gila River around 1820. Spanish settlers came to the area in 1598, but there is no evidence they penetrated the wilderness anywhere near to the dwellings. Prospector H.B. Ailman documented the cliff dwellings in 1878 and by the time archaeologist Adolph Bandelier arrived in 1884, looters had ransacked the alcoves and made off with whatever artifacts were to be found. Homesteaders, miners, prospectors and ranchers arrived over the next few decades and President Theodore Roosevelt protected the area as Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument in 1907. Not too long after he did, Aldo Leopold came to the region as a forester and lobbied the Forest Service to establish the GIla Wilderness, the first designated wilderness area in the country and an inspiration for the 1964 Wilderness Act.
Today, the Gila Wilderness is a quiet and magical place. It’s a two hour drive from Silver City, the nearest town of any real size, to the Cliff Dwellings. The road that brings you in is the aptly named Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway and it is a truly beautiful drive. During my visit, I toured the cliff dwellings, scouted out some beautiful pictographs, hiked the fabulous Little Bear Creek Canyon trail to the Middle Fork of the Gila River and soaked in wonderful hot springs. I loved my time in the Gila Wilderness and hope you enjoy these photos from my visit.
This post is one in a series of “In Focus” posts in which I hope to capture the magic of each of our wonderful National Parks. You can find the other posts in this series by typing “In Focus” into the search bar in the footer of this blog or scroll using the links below. Click on any photo to make it bigger. All photos are available for purchase and licensing - please contact me for further details. For licensing, click the link in the header. Please support our National Parks - they really are our greatest treasures.