Looking across Montezuma Well to ledge ruin.
Aside from its geological interest, this area is a monument to the ingenuity of the former Indian inhabitants. Here they built their homes around the lake from which water was diverted into irrigation ditches for purposes of watering their farms.
Today the rim of the Well is 70 feet above the surface of the water. The lake measures over 400 feet across and the springs feeding it flow continually. Nature, in this manner, provided the Indians (and later settlers) with a huge supply of water for irrigation of the dry desert soil.
In May 1948, a diver went down into the Well to determine its depth and explore the bottom. After coming up from the first dive, he said the water was so warm that he had to remove all clothing except for his swimming trunks. The temperatures at the bottom and on the surface differ by some 4° to 7° in summer. On surfacing from another dive, he remarked that the black muddy bottom was broken by two white mounds of sandy material near the west shore, and that the water in this region was cool. Continued search in this spot did not reveal an actual inlet to explain the cool water or the presence of the limestone mounds, which may have been inlets at one time. Several descents revealed the saucer shape of the Well and a maximum depth of 55 feet near the center.
MONTEZUMA WELL AREA
APRIL 1958
Diagram of undercut grave at Montezuma Well.
The Well has a constant flow at the outlet spring of 1½ million gallons of water every day. A person viewing this cup-shaped depression, half filled with water, could easily doubt this statement of flow, for the surface presents a placid and serene appearance. The water, acting like a giant mirror, reflects the blue Arizona sky, and stimulates visiting photographers to take many pictures.