On the rim, and in the ledges and caves below, are remnants of former Indian homes—reminders that in the past this body of water stood for more than natural beauty. Its presence made possible a thriving farming community of about 150 to 200 Indians between 1125 and 1400.
Archeological features include the remains of two pueblos on the rim of the Well. The larger contained about 24 ground-floor rooms, and the other 15. Three small cliff dwellings are located in the western ledges and several rooms are hidden in a large cave near the place where the Well water goes underground before emerging at the outlet spring.
Two burial grounds have been discovered, one on the flat below the Well, and the other near the small pueblo. As mentioned in a previous section, the method in which the Indians at Montezuma Well buried adults was rather unusual. They excavated a rectangular pit in the ground, roughly 3 by 6 feet. About 3 feet below the surface, they broke through a fairly hard 8- to 10-inch limestone layer commonly found underground in this area. After digging about 2 feet below this layer, they dug to one side, underneath the limestone, forming an undercut grave. This was made large enough for the body to lay at full length inside, and to accommodate funeral offerings, usually including pottery vessels. The undercut portion was closed with 3 or 4 large slabs of limestone, which were sealed with mud to prevent any dirt from entering. Then the pit was filled with dirt to complete the burial. Nowhere else in the Southwest are undercut graves quite like these found.
Modern irrigation ditch flows beside lime-coated bank of ancient irrigation ditch.
Along the north edge of the farmland you can see the most unusual feature at Montezuma Well: “fossilized” irrigation ditches of the ancient Indian farms! The water in the Well is warm and contains much lime. As the water flowed through the ancient irrigation ditches, some evaporated and lime particles settled to the bottom. Also, each time the Indians finished irrigating, they probably turned the water back into Beaver Creek to avoid flooding the farms. What little water remained in the ditches evaporated, leaving more lime particles. Over a period of time, these particles coated the ditches—thus actually cementing them. In this way the ancient waterways have been preserved as monuments to the first farmers of the Verde Valley. Interestingly, the same process continues today in modern irrigation ditches using waters from the Well.
History of the Monument
The Spanish were the first Europeans to visit the immediate area of the monument. No reference by them to Montezuma Castle has been found; however, in 1583, the Antonio de Espejo Expedition probably visited Montezuma Well. Espejo journeyed from the Hopi Indian villages in northeastern Arizona to the Verde River, traveling down a stream identified as Beaver Creek—thus he had to pass Montezuma Well. A further indication that he passed the Well is found in one of the expedition journals which describes an abandoned pueblo and a ditch running from a nearby pond.
While the Verde Valley was Spanish and Mexican territory, no settlements were established in the immediate vicinity of the monument.
As a result of the war with Mexico (1846-48), the United States acquired the Verde Valley. By 1865, enough settlers had come into the valley to warrant the establishment of Fort Verde near the location of present-day Camp Verde. The earliest date of a pioneer visitor’s scratched inscription in Montezuma Castle is 1880; however, it is known that the ruin was visited by army personnel in the 1860’s. Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, who was assigned to the fort, wrote the first detailed account of Montezuma Castle. It was published in 1890 in the Popular Science Monthly, and described the ruin very much as it is today: