Wupatki National Monument ⓘ

All peoples of the world have had a need for storage or carrying containers. Nomadic cultures usually made lightweight containers of animal hides or basket materials. Settled agricultural people did not have to be as concerned with weight and breakage and could make their household items of materials such as glass, metal or clay.

Production Almost everywhere that clay was available, agricultural societies developed the skill of pottery manufacture. In the southwestern United States, pottery making was not restricted to specialized tradesmen but was a household industry. This resulted in the production of large amounts of pottery, much of which still exists today. Completed pottery can be broken into very small pieces but it is difficult to destroy. One of the reasons, then, that archeologists spend so much time studying pottery, is that it exists in larger quantities than highly perishable materials such as baskets. When examining pottery of different cultures, archeologists study materials used, the manufacturing methods, and the types of decoration.

Types Over 500 types of pottery have been classified in the Southwest. More than fifty have been found just in the Flagstaff area. There is a formal naming system for pottery, each type having a geographic designation followed by a description. Examples are Sunset Red and Flagstaff Black-on-White. Since no two pieces of pottery are identical, archeologists have had to be careful in deciding whether a slightly different design is a new type or just an individual variation. The presence of so many pottery types has intrigued archeologists. It was first believed that there had been a massive migration of members of many cultures into the area. Now it is considered more likely that there was extensive trade occurring and that this was a natural boundary where several cultures met.

Protection Archeologists are still working in the area and recording the various kinds of pottery found. Please help them by leaving undisturbed any pottery fragments or other artifacts you find while visiting Walnut Canyon, Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments.

The entire Wupatki Visitor Center Complex is on the National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District . The Original Ranger house and Visitor Center were constructed in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The current visitor center and ranger housing were built in 1964 as part of the Park Service's Mission 66 Project. The flagpole you see today has been standing for 60 years!

Historical sense of a particular time period is important for maintaining the site’s relationship to Wupatki National Monument and its cultural significance. Residence 1 retains the aesthetic of southwestern rustic park structures and is included in the Wupatki National Monument Visitor Center Complex Historical District. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) , partnered with NPS architect Cecil Doty started construction of the building in 1938 and completed it in 1940, 16 years after Wupatki was established as a National Monument.

Residence 1 was designed to blend in with the appearance and aesthetic of its surrounding geological formations of Moenkopi sandstone, native plants , and the view of the Painted Desert to the East. The presence of its original architectural context contributes to the house’s integrity. The structure resembles the Pueblo Revival Style. The characteristics include flat roofs with parapets and canales, exposed viga ends at the exterior, and exposed vigas and ceiling boards in the interior.

In 1938, administrative facilities were underway and the CCC began construction. Courtney Jones and her husband, Custodian David Jones were the first to live in Residence 1. But before they moved in, the Jones’ lived inside of the Wupatki Pueblo at site #17. Custodian Jones sent monthly reports to the Southwestern Monuments Superintendent that describe what it was like to live in an 800-year-old pueblo.A monthly report dating to May of 1939 describes the following: “Work on the residence is progressing rapidly under Foreman Leedham. Within the next few weeks, it will be ready for roofing. While we are anxious to see the house completed, we shall not move out of the quarters in the ruin without misgivings. At present there is a bond between us and the ‘old people’ in that it is our home too ... In addition, living in the ruin, we have a better opportunity of ‘contacting’ our visitors. You would be surprised what friendships will spring up after an hour in our quarters.” Letters between Courtney and her family and friends also describe what it was like.At the time, it was uncommon for women to work for the National Park System, but that did not sway Courtney’s love for culture, learning, and adventure. The Jones’ time in the pueblo and at Residence 1 gave them the opportunity to form a relationship with the Peshlakai family .

The Park Service began restoration of The Stone House in 2019 with intent to maintain the character of the structure, while simultaneously ensuring that there were adequate safety features such as a fire suppression system. Character defining features are often aspects of design, construction, or detail that represents the function of the building and the historical significance. For example, mortar is recessed from the face of the Moenkopi stone to match the historic pueblo construction technique. Other features include slab-on-grade foundation, a flat roof with stone parapets and chimneys, exposed vigas, wood roof canales, carved wood corbels, enclosed courtyard with flagstone paving, stone steps, and multi-lite steel casement windows with wood lintels and stone sills. Historic Preservation techniques were used throughout the house and specialists were brought in to restore the wood vigas. The interior of the residence includes a three-bay garage that is separated from the housing portion by a courtyard. Inside the house there is a living room, kitchen, utility room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. Today, the structure is still used as Park Housing.

Preservation of the Stone House included replacing and sealing any damage to the wooden vigas, new window glass, new doors, and stone work on garden walls and paths.

The entire region that includes the Flagstaff Area National Monuments has been home to Native people since time immemorial.

The Flagstaff Area National Monuments (Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano, and Wupatki) are places of immeasurable importance to Native peoples in the Southwest. Wupatki shares boundaries with the Navajo Nation, and a total of thirteen federally recognized tribes are traditionally associated with the Monuments. Park staff have been working with tribal people for many years and are creating ever-better collaborative tribal partnerships. We gratefully acknowledge the Native peoples on whose ancestral homelands we gather, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities who continue to make their home here today.

As we celebrate Native heritage, please take a moment to ponder and appreciate the diverse cultural stories these lands hold. This history, played out on lands including the Flagstaff Area National Monuments, has been dramatic and difficult - but learning from the past can help us all in the future.

There are thirteen tribes connected to the lands and resources now found within the Flagstaff Area National Monuments:

Heat waves distort the horizon while strong winds sap moisture from every pore. Tantalizing thunderstorms build in the distance but often cheat the land of rain. The rock walls of an 800-year-old pueblo frame a landscape but offer no obvious sourcees of food, water, or comfort. This is Wupatki. On a summer day, the high desert of Wupatki seems like a bleak home for the ancestral Puebloan people who settled here. However, i n this region of dramatic geologic landforms, climatic extremes, scarce water, and diverse plant and animal species, people have survived for thousands of years. When the residents of Wupatki inhabited the peublos there was slightly more rainfall and flowing springs to sustain this fertile farmland.

Wupatki National Monument was established to preserve the archeological sites from which we can learn about past and present cultures. We have since realized that Wupatki’s history is a complex story of people interacting with this living, evolving landscape. The dynamic processes of volcanism, tectonics, and erosion have created the geologic formations and abrupt elevation changes that provide, within a short distance, a wide variety of habitats for plants and animals. The effects of elevation are startlingly visible along the scenic loop road connecting Wupatki with Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, 18 miles to the south. A drive along this road is a journey from desert grasslands (at less than 5,000’ elevation) to ponderosa pine forest (near 7,000’). Today, Wupatki National Monument protects 56 square miles (35,254 acres) of high desert directly west of the Little Colorado River and the Navajo Reservation. Its vistas preserve clues to geologic history, ecological change, and human settlement. All are intertwined.

The wide open lands of Wupatki National Monument may seem barren to those more familiar with lush forests and prairie grasslands but this area does support a large number of plants which are well-adapted to the semi-arid environment. The gray-green foliage which characterizes much of the landscape absorbs less heat than the dark green leaves found in wetter and cooler areas. Many of the leaves are small to reduce water loss; others have a thick waxy coating. Succulent plants store water in their leaves or in their stems. Desert plants have either extensive shallow root systems that quickly absorb the occasional rainfall or very deep roots that tap water sources far below the soil surface. Small shrubs, grasses, as well as annual and perennial flowering plants dominate this dry ecosystem. Evergreen species such as One-seed Juniper and Mormon Tea stand out in the winter months and different wildflowers can be seen throughout the year depending on the timing and amount of rainfall. For a more complete list of plants in the monument, visit the Southwest Biodiversity page here .

Thank you for helping us protect these fragile resources by leaving all natural materials where you find them.

The most common mammals here are the rodents. Their small size, ground dwelling habits, and resulting lack of mobility make them especially susceptible to the extremes of temperature and lack of standing water characteristic of deserts. Consequently, they have evolved a very efficient life style. While they will not shun water if available, most desert rodents do not need a source of drinking water. They rely instead on moisture in their food for their metabolic needs. They avoid the searing dry heat of the day, spending it in the shade of underground burrows. The humidity of their burrows has been measured at several times that of the atmosphere, while underground temperatures can be as much as 30 degrees cooler than ambient temperature.

The Great Basin desert, hot and dry in the summer, is a high plains desert, and can be very cold in the winter, occasionally disappearing under a thin blanket of snow. To survive this extreme range of yearly temperatures, most small mammals sleep or hibernate through the winter, waking only occasionally to feed on stored caches of food.

An observant and patient visitor can catch glimpses of some of the larger, diurnal (active in the daytime) mammals. The black-tailed jackrabbit can often be seen bounding away on this zigzag course. The jackrabbit is not really a rabbit, but a hare. Jackrabbits are born with hair, and with eyes open, whereas "bunnies" are blind and hairless at birth, to cite one of the differences.

In the early morning, you might see a herd of pronghorn antelope in the grassy areas of the monument. The pronghorn, recognized by a brilliant white rump patch, is unique among mammals in that it has a horn, not an antler, but it sheds its horn every year. Most horned mammals, like cows, only get one set per lifetime.

Around the visitor center, you might see a whitetail antelope squirrel. If he spots you eyeing him, he will freeze and wiggle his white tail at you. He carries his tail over his back; presumably, this quivering white patch serves to break up the animal's outline, so that a predator, such as a soaring hawk, cannot recognize it as the body of a squirrel.

Desert mammals are generally paler in color than their relatives of milder climates and are usually very secretive in their habits. This is due to the sparsity of cover in the desert, and due to their habit of conserving energy in the heat of the day. But with careful observation, you may be rewarded with a glimpse of these creatures, and can marvel at their ability to survive in this beautiful but harsh land.