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.

 
View of Square Tower House




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

 
Artist rendition of Ancestral Puebloan traders.


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

 
Park Ranger archeologist documenting a wall in Spruce Tree House.


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.

Did You Know?

Mesa top pueblo at Far View Sites Complex

Approximately 600 of the over 4700 archeological sites found in Mesa Verde National Park are cliff dwellings. Other sites include mesa top pueblos, farming terraces, towers, reservoirs, and check dams.