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Mesa Verde National ParkHistoric photo of Cliff Palace
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Mesa Verde National Park
History & Culture
 

On June 29, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park to "preserve the works of man," the first national park of its kind. Today, the continued preservation of both cultural and natural resources is the focus of the park's research and resource management staff.

 

 





For cultural information on Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings and mesa top sites, click on Places.

 

 

 


For information about the Ancestral Puebloans who lived at Mesa Verde, go to People.

 

 


For information about Mesa Verde's Archeological Site Conservation program, current projects and research including stabilization, post fire site surveys, and architectural documentation, click on Preservation.

Balcony House
Visiting Cliff Dwellings
for information on visiting the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde
more...
Ancestral Puebloan black-on-white mug
Artifact Gallery
links to artifact gallery activity
more...
View of mesas  

Did You Know?
The Ancestral Puebloans inhabited Mesa Verde for more than 700 years (550 A.D. to 1300 A.D.), but for the first six centuries, they primarily lived on the mesa tops. It was not until the final 75 to 100 years that they constructed and lived in the cliff dwellings for which Mesa Verde is known.

Last Updated: July 28, 2009 at 11:39 EST