Tuzigoot National Monument
″Tú Digiz/Tuzigoot″ is a Tonto Apache term for "crooked waters," from nearby Pecks Lake, a cutoff meander of the Verde River; from Tú Digiz one principal Tonto Apache clan gets its name. The pueblo was built by the Sinagua people between 1125 and 1400 CE. Tuzigoot is the largest and best preserved of the many Sinagua pueblo ruins in the Verde Valley. The ruins at Tuzigoot incorporate very few doors; instead, the inhabitants used ladders accessed by trapdoor type openings in the roofs to enter each room.
The monument is on land once owned by United Verde/Phelps Dodge. The corporation sold the site to Yavapai County for $1 so that the excavation could be completed under the auspices of federal relief projects. The county in turn transferred the land to the federal government.
Tuzigoot was excavated from 1933 to 1935 by Louis Caywood and Edward Spicer of the University of Arizona, with funding from the federal Civil Works Administration and Works Project Administration. In 1935–1936, with additional federal funding, the ruins were prepared for public display, and a Pueblo Revival-style museum and visitor center was constructed.
Franklin D. Roosevelt designated Tuzigoot Ruins as a U.S. National Monument on July 25, 1939. The Tuzigoot National Monument Archeological District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
The ruins are surrounded by the tailings pond of the former United Verde copper mine at Jerome. The tailings have recently been stabilized and revegetated.
Climate
Tuzigoot National Monument has a semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk) with cool winters and very hot summers.
| Climate data for Tuzigoot National Monument, Arizona, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1920–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 80 (27) |
87 (31) |
92 (33) |
98 (37) |
107 (42) |
118 (48) |
116 (47) |
114 (46) |
113 (45) |
102 (39) |
89 (32) |
79 (26) |
118 (48) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 71.5 (21.9) |
74.9 (23.8) |
82.5 (28.1) |
91.3 (32.9) |
99.5 (37.5) |
108.1 (42.3) |
109.9 (43.3) |
106.7 (41.5) |
100.8 (38.2) |
92.5 (33.6) |
81.8 (27.7) |
71.3 (21.8) |
111.3 (44.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 60.9 (16.1) |
64.5 (18.1) |
71.2 (21.8) |
78.9 (26.1) |
87.9 (31.1) |
98.9 (37.2) |
101.1 (38.4) |
98.4 (36.9) |
93.1 (33.9) |
82.6 (28.1) |
70.5 (21.4) |
59.8 (15.4) |
80.6 (27.0) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 45.3 (7.4) |
48.6 (9.2) |
54.4 (12.4) |
61.0 (16.1) |
69.4 (20.8) |
79.1 (26.2) |
83.9 (28.8) |
82.0 (27.8) |
75.7 (24.3) |
64.7 (18.2) |
53.3 (11.8) |
44.6 (7.0) |
63.5 (17.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 29.8 (−1.2) |
32.7 (0.4) |
37.6 (3.1) |
43.0 (6.1) |
50.8 (10.4) |
59.3 (15.2) |
66.8 (19.3) |
65.5 (18.6) |
58.4 (14.7) |
46.7 (8.2) |
36.0 (2.2) |
29.4 (−1.4) |
46.3 (7.9) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 20.9 (−6.2) |
23.2 (−4.9) |
28.4 (−2.0) |
33.6 (0.9) |
40.1 (4.5) |
49.6 (9.8) |
59.3 (15.2) |
59.1 (15.1) |
49.0 (9.4) |
36.0 (2.2) |
25.2 (−3.8) |
20.1 (−6.6) |
17.8 (−7.9) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 5 (−15) |
6 (−14) |
14 (−10) |
24 (−4) |
29 (−2) |
40 (4) |
52 (11) |
46 (8) |
41 (5) |
21 (−6) |
8 (−13) |
8 (−13) |
5 (−15) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 1.10 (28) |
0.99 (25) |
1.01 (26) |
0.43 (11) |
0.42 (11) |
0.18 (4.6) |
1.64 (42) |
2.15 (55) |
1.30 (33) |
0.96 (24) |
0.70 (18) |
1.12 (28) |
12.00 (305) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.2 (0.51) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.2 (0.51) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.3 (0.76) |
1.0 (2.5) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch) | 4.6 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 7.5 | 8.4 | 4.9 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 4.4 | 52.9 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 inch) | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
Gallery
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Tuzigoot National Monument -
Tuzigoot, viewed from across the old tailings pond, 1945 -
Tuzigoot Museum
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See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Yavapai County, Arizona
- List of historic properties in Clarkdale, Arizona
- List of national monuments of the United States
References
- ^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved May 14, 2012. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
- ^ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
- ^ Archaeology of Native North America, 2010, Dean R. Snow, Prentice-Hall, New York. p. 134
- ^ "Tuzigoot History & Culture". National Park Service.
- ^ "Tuzigoot Nature & Science". National Park Service.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". National Park Service. March 31, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
- ^ "Tuzigoot National Monument". Yavapai Heritage Roundup. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
- ^ "Tuzigoot Celebrates Its 70th Birthday" (PDF). National Park Service. July 16, 2009.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 15, 1966.
- ^ Kaiser, Harvey H. (2003). An Architectural Guide to the Southwest National Parks. Salt Lake City: Gibbs-Smith. ISBN 1-58685-068-7.
- ^ "Tailings soon a thing of the past". Verde Independent. June 14, 2006. Archived from the original on August 6, 2007.
- ^ "NOWData – NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
- ^ "Summary of Monthly Normals 1991–2020". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
External links
- "Tuzigoot National Monument". National Park Service.
- "Tuzigoot National Monument, Arizona". Archeology Program. National Park Service.
- "Tuzigoot National Monument". National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary. National Park Service.
- "Montezuma Castle Tuzigoot National Monuments: General Management Plan/Environmental Assessment Summary". National Park Service.
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