Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona / A Guide to Discovery of the Castle, Its Builders, and Neighbors.

MONTEZUMA CASTLE NATIONAL MONUMENT ARIZONA
A guide to discovery of
the Castle,
its Builders,
and Neighbors.
$1.00
Courtesy Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott
April, 1894 “ We rode along and finally Montezuma Castle loomed up.... I was very much excited and filled with awe. We just sat and gazed. Finally I got my little wooden camera out and took a picture of the Castle from horseback. ” F. G. Steenberg
Many early visitors thought this cliff dwelling was a “castle” built by Aztec refugees for their emperor, Montezuma—thus the name!
Thanks to the archeologist, a more realistic story is beginning to unfold. The setting is a prehistoric one, meaning the people involved left no written history. They are believed to be the ancestors of some present-day Southwestern Indians.
This 20-room apartment house was occupied between 1100 and 1400. It has approximately the same floor space as a large, three-bedroom home of today. Perhaps a dozen families, or about 50 people, lived here.
Like other nearby caves and crevasses, the large recess in which the Castle was built is the product of wind and water erosion over eons of time. Shelter from the elements and solar heat from the winter sun were probably good reasons for starting a home here. Other ideas have also been suggested, including protection, tradition, or perhaps the view! However, with no written records to guide us, maybe the real reasons will never be known.