With all this social distancing we decided to go on an adventure. It was my Brothers birthday and that's what he wanted to do. I was itching to get out of the house. My Dad and brothers had been there once before about 5 years ago. They said it would be about 2 hours there and then 2 hours back. So we headed on our way. We left at about 1pm. We had 2 trucks, a ranger, and a four wheeler. The roads were really rough and we could only go about 5-10 mph the whole time. We kept going and going and they kept saying we are almost there! 4 hours later we finally got to the stopping point. It was around 5pm when we got there. We followed the trail markings to the ruins. It was incredible, the dwellings were still in pretty good shape. Probably cause no one wants to travel a bumpy road for 8 hours! We were able to see the cliff dwellings and hike back to the vehicles just as the sun was setting. We traveled home in the dark. The trip back seemed to go a lot faster than the way there. It was a very memorable trip. We had our family of 6 and all 3 of my siblings families there, and my parents. We had 10 Adults and 10 kids altogether.
Directions:
We started by the Safford Airport
Solomon Pass Road
Salt Trap Road
Red Knoll Road
East Bonita Rill Road
Christensen Road
Map: How we got there
The Red X Marks The Ending Spot Where We Stopped
We stopped the trucks in the bottom of the creek and then followed the trail (little flags tied in the bushes). The hike was pretty short probably only 20 minutes maybe faster if you don't have a bunch of kids with you.
This is what the Sign said, it's hard to read in the video.
Pueblo Devol Cliff Dwellings
Prehistoric Inhabitants
Around 800 year ago, Indians built dwellings in the cliffs above this deep canyon along Bonita Creek.It is likely that they were a small band of Kayenta Anasazi who had migrated southward from the Point of Pines area during the late 13th century or early 14th Century. Pueblo Devol, which may have contained as many as 50 rooms during the height of it occupation, is the largest cliff dwelling for this time period in southeastern Arizona. It appears that the Anasazi migrants lived here for a short period of time before moving south to the Safford Valley.
Building a Pueblo
To build this pueblo, the Anasazi gathered mud and large cobbles from the creek and carried them into the alcoves in the 3 alcoves above they constructed 2 and 3 story rooms which followed the cliff contours. The walls were made with layers of unshaped stone. The large quantities of mud mortar they where then finished by brown plaster and decorated with white horizontal lines.
The Draw of the Pueblo Devol
From the time of its discovery Pueblo Devol has attracted visitors willing to brave the long trek
to this remote site. In early days up to 75 years ago people traveled by wagon, horse, and foot over the grueling terrain in the heat to reach Pueblo Devol. After spending more than 3 hours to get here, they would make day of it, picnicking near the ruins, with children playing while parents sat near by on blankets enjoying the canyons view and listening to the birds sing.
Daily Life
For the anasazi included harvesting a wide variety of plants for food including wild walnuts, pinyon nuts, acorns, prickly pear, mesquite, yucca, and agave. Many of these plants also provided material for other uses. Mesquite, for example, was used for building materials and tools. Agave plants were a source of soap, fiber, medicine, weapons, and beverages. Yuccas provided leaves used making sandals, baskets, and rope. The hunting of games such as bighorn sheep, mule deer, javelina, m and small animals occurred in the drier uplands.
The Anasazi produced well-crafted pots for cooking and storing food. They were made of clay and had rounded bottoms.These vessels were covered with beautiful black, red and white geometric designs (polychrome).The colors were painted with brushes made from the yucca plant.
Preservation Efforts
In the 1990s, the Bureau of Land Management initiated a preservation program that included scientific studies of the site and stabilization of the fragile structures to preserve their condition and to protect them from further damage.
Artifacts found during this study included baskets, a pot rest, corn cobs, pot sherds, a hammer stone, a Mano (a stone used as the upper millstone for grinding foods by hand in a metate), various sticks, and split yucca stalk.
Directions:
We started by the Safford Airport
Solomon Pass Road
Salt Trap Road
Red Knoll Road
East Bonita Rill Road
Christensen Road
Map: How we got there
We stopped the trucks in the bottom of the creek and then followed the trail (little flags tied in the bushes). The hike was pretty short probably only 20 minutes maybe faster if you don't have a bunch of kids with you.
This is what the Sign said, it's hard to read in the video.
Pueblo Devol Cliff Dwellings
Prehistoric Inhabitants
Around 800 year ago, Indians built dwellings in the cliffs above this deep canyon along Bonita Creek.It is likely that they were a small band of Kayenta Anasazi who had migrated southward from the Point of Pines area during the late 13th century or early 14th Century. Pueblo Devol, which may have contained as many as 50 rooms during the height of it occupation, is the largest cliff dwelling for this time period in southeastern Arizona. It appears that the Anasazi migrants lived here for a short period of time before moving south to the Safford Valley.
Building a Pueblo
To build this pueblo, the Anasazi gathered mud and large cobbles from the creek and carried them into the alcoves in the 3 alcoves above they constructed 2 and 3 story rooms which followed the cliff contours. The walls were made with layers of unshaped stone. The large quantities of mud mortar they where then finished by brown plaster and decorated with white horizontal lines.
The Draw of the Pueblo Devol
From the time of its discovery Pueblo Devol has attracted visitors willing to brave the long trek
to this remote site. In early days up to 75 years ago people traveled by wagon, horse, and foot over the grueling terrain in the heat to reach Pueblo Devol. After spending more than 3 hours to get here, they would make day of it, picnicking near the ruins, with children playing while parents sat near by on blankets enjoying the canyons view and listening to the birds sing.
Daily Life
For the anasazi included harvesting a wide variety of plants for food including wild walnuts, pinyon nuts, acorns, prickly pear, mesquite, yucca, and agave. Many of these plants also provided material for other uses. Mesquite, for example, was used for building materials and tools. Agave plants were a source of soap, fiber, medicine, weapons, and beverages. Yuccas provided leaves used making sandals, baskets, and rope. The hunting of games such as bighorn sheep, mule deer, javelina, m and small animals occurred in the drier uplands.
The Anasazi produced well-crafted pots for cooking and storing food. They were made of clay and had rounded bottoms.These vessels were covered with beautiful black, red and white geometric designs (polychrome).The colors were painted with brushes made from the yucca plant.
Preservation Efforts
In the 1990s, the Bureau of Land Management initiated a preservation program that included scientific studies of the site and stabilization of the fragile structures to preserve their condition and to protect them from further damage.
Artifacts found during this study included baskets, a pot rest, corn cobs, pot sherds, a hammer stone, a Mano (a stone used as the upper millstone for grinding foods by hand in a metate), various sticks, and split yucca stalk.
