Yucca House National Monument
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| Yucca House National Monument | |
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| Location | Montezuma County, Colorado, USA |
| Nearest city | Cortez, Colorado |
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| Area | 33.97 acres (0.14 km²) |
| Established | December 19, 1919 |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
Yucca House National Monument is a United States National Monument located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. Yucca House is a large, unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site.
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the site a National Monument on December 19, 1919, after the donation of 9.5 acres of land on July 2, 1919 by a private landowner. It was one of many "research" national monuments designated during that era to preserve them for future investigation, and not necessarily as sites expected to be significant public attractions. As a National Park Service historic area, the park was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Currently, there are no facilities or fees at Yucca House. The site is managed by Mesa Verde National Park, although few NPS personnel at the Park are more than marginally aware of the site.
The monument is located between the towns of Towaoc (headquarters of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe) and Cortez. To reach the monument from US 160, drive on US 160/US 491 for 8 miles south of Cortez, take County Road B west for just over a mile, then turn north onto County Road 20.5. The entrance to the monument is at the end of that road, about 2 miles from the previous turn. An small unimproved parking area may be used, but what is visible can be accessed only by a rough foot trail. Parking space is limited and roads may be difficult immediately following rains or snowmelt. There are no true interpretive features at the site.
The site is one of many Anasazi (Ancestral Pueblo} village sites located in the Montezuma Valley and occupied between AD 900 and 1300, and became a major community center after about 1150. It may have taken advantage of the location nearby of Mud Springs and Navajo Springs, and the junction of several major trails. (Navajo Springs was the original site of the Ute Mountain Indian Agency following the division of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in the early 1900s.) Even today, much of the area around the site is rich, irrigated farmland, while drier, higher areas are arid rangeland.
[edit] External links
- Official NPS website: Yucca House National Monument
- Description of the site from NPS
[edit] References
- The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.
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