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The native people known today as the Sinagua inhabited the Verde Valley
of Arizona for centuries; from around 700 A.D. to early 1400 A.D. During that
time span, they farmed the land and built large pueblo communities throughout
the area. They accomplished this task using only primitive stone tools,
materials from their environment, and the strength of their intellect and muscle.
One of the largest communal dwellings, and later the most extensively excavated,
is called Tuzigoot. This sprawling, hilltop complex contained over one hundred
rooms and was once home to several hundred people before it was mysteriously
abandoned. Excavated and partially restored in 1933-34, Tuzigoot is currently
administered by the National Park Service after being designated a National
Monument by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939. Today, although off the
beaten track, it hosts more than one hundred thousand visitors a year.
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