History
Created by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1906 and holds some of the worlds most compelling archeological gems, the cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people.
Guide Sections
Use History's guide sections to understand how this stop fits into the larger park plan.
History Details
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Learn About the Park
Mesa Verde National Park was created by our national park champion President Teddy Roosevelt in 1906 and holds some of the worlds most compelling archeological gems, the cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people. People inhabited the Mesa Verde region seasonally as long ago as 7500 BCE, but it wasn't until around 650 that the ancestral people's started subsistence farming corn, squash, and beans, and building the mesas first pueblos. In the late 1100s, they began to construct the fascinating cliff dwellings that draw visitors from around the world every year. After a series of prolonged and severe droughts, the Ancestral Puebloan people had to move to a more fertile region, and by 1285 had left the Mesa Verde area and moved south.