Horses may be obtained from the nearby Navajos through the superintendent of the monument. One full day is required for the round trip.
Keet Seel was discovered in 1893 by Richard Wetherill. It was partially excavated and stabilized in 1934, and today still gives the impression that it might have been abandoned only a few years ago. Actually, almost 700 years have passed since the Anasazi last lived in this cliff city.
INSCRIPTION HOUSE
Inscription House lies almost 20 miles in an air line west of Betatakin, the headquarters area. This fine ruin, the smallest of the three (with approximately 75 rooms), was so named because of an inscription found scratched into the plastered wall of one of the rooms. Weather-beaten, little remains of the original inscription. It is generally believed to be of Spanish origin and to date from the 1660’s, but the exact wording has been variously reported. John Wetherill, from his second trip to Inscription House in 1909, remembered the inscription thus:
C H O S
1661 A d n
with more letters which were illegible.
Keet Seel Ruin
THE MONUMENT
Navajo National Monument was established by Presidential proclamation on March 20, 1909, and contains 360 acres of federally owned land. It is completely surrounded by the Navajo Indian Reservation and lies on the edge of a “roadless area” nearly 100 miles from paved highways.