Mesa Verde Administrative History

A. Nature of the problems

Wanted, by the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior: A clear, transparent waterproof solution that when sprayed on prehistoric masonry will preserve it from weathering without obscuring it from view.

The above statement came from a press release of the department, dated March 31, 1931, and illustrated just one of the vexing problems that faced the Park Service in its administration of the Southwest monuments—the preservation of the cliff dwellings and other pueblo ruins which many of the areas contained.

In preventing weathering, the practice was to use cement to good advantage after excavation, but this had the disadvantage of covering and hiding from view the original workmanship. The ideal solution, according to the press release, would be the preparation of a clear, transparent, waterproof coating which could be sprayed on the walls, thus making them weather proof and still leave the masonry open to inspection by the many thousands of people who visited the monuments every year. It was hoped that some national research and experimental laboratories would someday produce such a product. Meanwhile, the National Park Service would welcome suggestions regarding waterproofing material.

A brief review of conditions from 1906 to 1930 will give a better idea of the problems of preservation in Mesa Verde.

Prior to 1906 Mesa Verde was within the jurisdiction of the Indian Bureau. The area was difficult to reach and seldom visited except by cowboys and residents of adjacent communities. This condition was decidedly favorable to the preservation of the home sites, since the only damage resulting from the activities of man was occasional pot-hunting and promiscuous excavating. The work was not intensive and was distributed over the entire mesa, as those early diggers were endeavoring to skim the cream, as it were, of the archeological material to be found.

Beginning in 1908, under the direction of Fewkes, the Smithsonian started a program which at the time of its inception was comprehensive enough to embrace the excavation of the major archeological sites of the park. Until this time, natural conditions had contributed to what might be called the remarkable preservation of the ruins. When the home sites were abandoned, the upper stones sometimes crumbled and the fallen rocks were deposited around the base or lower section of walls. This accummulation of stones acted almost as a brace, or a very effective support. Drifting sand and fine earth was deposited around these loose stones and standing walls, until finally the entire structure was completely buried. Vegetation then spread over the mound, completing the natural protection.

In 1908 Spruce Tree House was excavated, and then Cliff Palace, Sun Temple, Square Tower House, Balcony House, New Fire House, Oak Tree House, Cedar Tree Tower, and the Far View Group, this work continuing until 1922. With the complete removal of the protective soil covering of the above ruins, walls were exposed to the elements, and in the intervening years considerable damage resulted from the destructive effects of water and wind. Added to this was the difficult problem of maintaining these ruins under the traffic of thousands of visitors a year. This made the park problem more complex, since the administration not only had to protect the ruins from the visitors but the visitor from the ruins, as well. Loose walls were a serious menace, and one dislodged rock could cause a fatal accident.

It was not until 1928 that the true extent of the damage of pedestrian traffic to the ruins was realized. Beginning in that year the park received an amount for ruin maintenance approximately sufficient to care for current annual damage. These appropriations were used to the fullest advantage, but they never permitted a really comprehensive repair program. As a consequence of this, much of the basic trouble remained unattended. The park people veneered the surface by placing back walls that kept falling, or when possible strengthening them, while these surface conditions had really been the result of insecure foundations.

By the end of the 1933 heavy travel season, the impact of visitors' use on Cliff Palace was all too evident. It was necessary to close the major portion of the ruin to the public. Other sections open to the public would have to be closed within a year unless really adequate protective measures were begun immediately.

Moisture was the most destructive force to ruins of the Mesa Verde type, but especially mesa-top ruins. Capillary action took place very rapidly in the sandstone and adobe mortar. Moisture was pulled from the ground and rose sometimes several feet in the wall. Foundations and lower building stones disintegrated rapidly under this action. Late summer rains and early fall snows kept the lower portion of walls saturated. With freezing weather began the destruction, and that portion of the saturated wall was destroyed to the depth that the frost had penetrated. The affected outer rock disintegrated or crumbled away in a few months. Then the process repeated itself. [1]

B. Morris guidelines

Probably the most important activity in archeology in 1932 was the approval of a program for the stabilization and repair of the major ruins in the park and the PWA allotment of $16,500 to carry on this work. This enabled the park to take steps toward the preservation of some of the largest and most interesting cliff dwellings. In conjunction with the work of restoration an extensive program of surveying, mapping and photographing was to be carried on, so that in the event of destruction of the ruins from any cause complete data would be available for reconstruction or for scientific reference. The accurate map of the major archeological ruins of the park would be substantiated by a series of photographs that would permit the repair or restoration of an entire ruin or any of its sections and the exact condition and dimensions which existed at the time of the surveying would be retained. [2]

A definite program of repair and protection was prepared in the fall of 1933. Considerable stabilization work would be required in two ruins, Balcony House and Cliff Palace. In the case of the former the problems were comparatively simple, and the work not extensive. Balcony House was erected on a fill, which the cliff dwellers managed to engineer by the construction of an outside retaining wall. At its maximum height this wall and fill was approximately twenty-five feet. Water was seeping in from the back of the cave, and its flow was disintegrating the retaining wall which held the fill, and as a consequence the entire ruin would be lost if proper precautions were not taken immediately. Repairing the damaged walls would be a rather large job, as would restoration of one kiva which had been affected by the flow of water. Braces would be needed on the lower walls to tie this artificial fill into the cliff.

Cliff Palace, in the north and central portions particularly, was moving and settling slightly on its foundations. All the structures of this cliff dwelling rested on an insecure natural fill that was formed by the disintegration of the cave roof. Pedestrian traffic resulted in enough vibration to cause a continuous settlement of this loose material. The damage from this source was alarming. Concrete had to be used for a great deal of this stabilization. In places, large boulders which were cracking, and which supported room structures above, had to be properly braced. In other places where loose fill was settling concrete retaining walls had to be used. In several instances reinforced concrete piers, anchored to the solid sandstone floor below the debris, would perhaps be the only effective means of controlling the settlement. The study of foundation protection had been usually overlooked in the past, since any further work accomplished on the surface would entirely depend on the stability of the foundations and the fills upon which they were constructed.

Walls requiring stabilization were numerous. The most notable cases included the four-story towers in Cliff Palace and Square Tower House, almost all walls of Far View and Pipe Shrine Houses, which had reached a state of dilapidation. In all, there were about 500 wall sections immediately in need of either strengthening or repair. This work would be done with iron braces where necessary, but preferably it would be accomplished by either springing the wall back into place and then strengthening it with masonry supports, or where absolutely necessary, by rebuilding the wall as nearly as possible to its original appearance.

Far View and Pipe Shrine Houses, Cedar Tree Tower and the outer or exposed portions of Cliff Palace, Balcony House, Square Tower House, and several other ruins were in urgent need of sufficient concrete capping to properly shed water.

To attempt a project of this sort with unexperienced or inefficient personnel would be to invite almost certain failure. Earl Morris, field archeologist of the Carnegie Institution of Washington was chosen for the supervision of the work. [3]

Survey was part of the project of ruin repair. The survey was in the hands of Stanley Morse, a young architectural engineer, and Robert Burgh and Gilbert Perkins, under Morse. Repair work was under the general supervision of Morris, who from May to November 1934, repaired Far View House, Cliff Palace, Square Tower House, Balcony House, Sun Temple and Oak Tree House. Funds available permitted only the survey work of Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House.

Cliff Palace was made stable and secure against destruction from the elements and pedestrian traffic. Repair work was directed primarily toward strengthening Speaker Chief's House, a lofty castellated building constructed upon a huge block of stone which in some earlier age had fallen from the cavern walls. This building was so named from its construction and location, leading to the belief that perhaps from its platform in prehistoric times announcements of importance were made to the community. In the restoration work some 70 tons of stone and cement were used to construct beneath the stone foundation of Speaker Chiefs House a foundation as durable and compact as the great sandstone overhead. [4]

Neither the ruin survey nor the repair work was completed with the funds made available in 1934, but the project offered valuable lessons for future work. Stanley Morse's survey work was enthusiastically endorsed by such men as Nusbaum, Kidder, Morris, Kittredge, and others. The survey method was carefully designed with consideration for its usefulness from every angle. Besides containing authentic source material for rebuilding, it was presented in such a way as to be useful for exhibits and as an information source for the educational division. It established an accounting scheme for the repair work which was done on the ruins from time to time by providing a means through which the repairing accomplished could be kept track of properly as part of the continuation of the record.

It was agreed by those connected with the 1934 project that in the repair work or in future excavation, there should be a satisfactory record to establish the identity of every ancient detail before work could proceed. In a great many cases this would be a matter of taking a few photographs. The time spent in Cliff Palace distinguishing between ancient and rebuilt walls would be unnecessary in future unexplored sites of this policy were rigidly adhered to. The sooner the information was obtained the more valuable it was bound to be.

Morris' repair work, therefore, would serve as model for future repairing and rebuilding. While the work should be as nearly like the original as possible, it would be the practice to distinguish the ancient from the rebuilt in some manner no more evident than a slight discoloration of the mortar joints. [5]

Morris was of the opinion that repair and stabilization work called for qualifications that it was not easy to find in any specific person—practical common sense, intimate familiarity with and understanding of the materials used by the ancient builders, wide and penetrating observation of original methods of construction, a working knowledge of masonry technique, an eye to aesthetic effect, and intense interest in the work at hand. Obviously such a man, if found, could not be picked up at a moment's notice. The rational plan of procedure, he said, was to develop a stabilization crew in the park to continue repair and restoration on a permanent basis, the individuals to be given full-time jobs.

The nucleus of such an organization exists at Mesa Verde. Al Lancaster and Raymond Dobbins constitute such a team as I have not seen elsewhere. While the work done during 1934 was nominally under my supervision, it was these two men who actually performed it, and as a testimonial to their skill and ability, Cliff Palace may be cited as an example, and that example speaks for itself. It would be highly desirable, for them to continue with the ruins of the Mesa Verde until of those of consequence have been covered. The immediate objective, that is, the treatment of the excavated cliff houses which are commonly visited by tourists has been almost attained, but to my mind it is equally important that repair of the visible portions of the large number of cliff houses that have not been excavated, be carried on to the point that the features now existent will be preserved for future generations of visitors and for the scientists who at some time will investigate these remains. I am convinced that it would be an economy, both in money and in results accomplished, to put Lancaster and Dobbins on yearly salary, with a part assignment to repair and reconstruction. [6]

Thus began Lancaster's long career in Mesa Verde as the head of the stabilization crew and as archeologist. The park stabilization files bear out the remarkable record of Lancaster as an archeologist, but especially in the field of ruin stabilization.

After 1934 the ruin stabilization program became a regular activity of park operations under Lancaster and a crew of Navajo workers. As the program moved along, more important became the need of following the method used by Morris in 1934.

During the stabilization program of 1942 the most annoying problem was the inadequate or complete lack of record of previous stabilization in the Fewkes Canyon ruins and Pipe Shrine House. In each case, ruins excavated prior to 1923 by Fewkes had been subjected to a general program of stabilization and reconstruction designed to make them into "show places" for the instruction of park visitors. As was common practice at that time, additions were often made to what remained of the original buildings. An authentic appearance was generally maintained by the re-use of original materials in which very few clues to the repairs were left. This practice, combined with the failure to properly record repairs and substitutions, made it especially difficult, often impossible, for the stabilization crew to determine the extent of previous repair work. [7]

C. Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House

Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House have always presented special stabilization problems due to heavy visitor use and the effect of moisture on the stability of the cave roofs. Since 1934, when Morris stabilized Cliff Palace, continuous minor stabilization has been necessary. With increased visitation following World War II, it finally became necessary to close the main portion of Cliff Palace to visitor entry as the weight of the parties and the vibration of feet, added to the continual seepage along the back of the cave, was causing various prehistoric terraces to creep and even fall, producing major damage to unbonded room walls.

Drains were established in two places at Cliff Palace to carry excess moisture out of the fill along the terrace in front. This front terrace wall, which holds back the weight of the upper terrace, had given way in places several times and almost constant repair was necessary as the stones kept disintegrating from moisture. The moisture problem became acute in the upper ledge, built on a free standing arch, necessitating cleaning it of all debris to allow air circulation. The drains established in front were effective for a short time, but accumulated moisture called for better drainage than could be effected with regular stabilization.

On June 24, 1960, a slab fell from the cave roof, just under the lip of the cliff at the end of a long water streak from the rim rock above. The area bared by the slab was heavily water soaked, indicating that a maximum amount of moisture had been absorbed by the sandstone during spring run-off. It became necessary to build in 1961 a drainage tunnel on the back of the Palace to drain the ruin alcove of sufficient water to halt or at least radically step down the rate of cave formation. The tunnel has worked fairly well up to the present time but it is checked regularly by the stabilization crew because there is still evidence of seepage on the rear of the Palace. [8]

Spruce Tree House presented similar problems. In 1961 a copper lip was installed in the cliff face above the south end of the ruin to divert drainage away from the ledge under a large crack where a rock fall took place in March 1960. Small drainage channels were chiseled into the rock to carry as much water as possible away from the tar-paper-covered crack and divert it to the installed lip. This work was done by Al Decker of the stabilization crew. [9]

During the 1964 travel season Spruce Tree House, the best preserved and most accessible ruin in the park, presented a safety problem of the first magnitude. There were three rook falls from the narrow section of the pinned arch above the north end of the ruin, occurring on July 9, August 7, and September 25. An inspection revealed a new crack behind the grout approximately three feet from the lip of the cliff. Because of this condition, it became necessary to close the incoming trail and the entire north end of the ruin to keep visitors back a distance of at least 30 feet from any possible rock fall. Closing the ruin to all traffic would have had a critical effect on Cliff Palace and Balcony House as well as on the interpretive program. Spruce Tree House carried the heaviest traffic of any ruin in the park. For example, 166,000 persons visited this ruin in the 1963 season as compared with 98,000 at Cliff Palace and 50,000 at Balcony House. [10]