Montezuma Castle & Well

Shortly before we left Phoenix, our new friends John and Linda suggested that we visit Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well. Even though we rode I-17 northward, we were going up into the mountains. The scenery was beautiful!

From Montezuma Castle & Well 02/04/09

Montezuma Castle was named by Spanish explorers who thought it was Aztec King Montezuma's "summer retreat." NOT! But the name stuck. Whoever built this residence was certainly persistent. We couldn't imagine how they carried those adobe bricks up the cliff face to build the pueblo.

From Montezuma Castle & Well 02/04/09

From there we rode a couple of miles north to see Montezuma Well. It is actually a sinkhole that has a phenomenal amount of water that flows through it and out into the river valley. The early peoples who settled here dug extensive irrigation canals. Primitive people? I think not. It certainly was interesting to see how accomplished the early native Americans really were. Yet, it's puzzling that we don't know why they abondoned the site.