South of Globe, Besh-Ba-Gowah sits on a hill top overlooking
a stream that flows out of the Penal Mountains. It was built by the people of
the Salado Culture about 700 years ago. It’s constructed of river rock, the
most plentiful building material in the area, and plaster. The visitor center
is well done with displays, video theater and gift shop. The short movie about
the life of the Salado people is well worth seeing before going through the
ruin.
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| Entrance to the pueblo. |
The entrance to the pueblo is through what was once a long,
dark, covered corridor. There are family rooms, plazas and ceremonial chambers.
The rooms of the two story reconstructed building have artifacts used in making
trade goods and the necessities of daily life.
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| 2-story reconstructed building. |
The ceremonial kiva is different from those we’re familiar with.
It’s square and deep with 3 tiers of benches and a hole used to amplify the
sound of the ceremony. It must have made quite an impression on those outside
as if the very stones were speaking.
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| Interior rooms. |
On our last visit to Roosevelt Lake we walked to a mound
near School House Campground. The Forest Service occasionally leads ranger-guided
tours to it. It was on an alluvial fan that over looked the valley of the Salt
River which is now a lake but at one time must have been a fertile valley. The
visit to Besh-Ba-Gowah gave us a good idea of what this mound had looked like.
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| Crafts rooms with loom. |
We like to visit
ruins whenever there’s an opportunity. Occasionally we’ve met people who’ll say
that if they’ve seen one ruin, they’ve seen them all, so why bother. Each is
different and worthy in its own right. The early people had to think about resources,
community and enemies. Each location has its construction requirements,
relationship to the environment and function. Each is interesting in the
context of what was going on at the time; trade, cultural, family, environmental
changes, war. We may never understand how they thought but they had the same
needs we do to survive and build a sustainable community.
The Park also has an arboretum, ethnic garden and picnic
area. Be sure to visit. They’ll greatly
appreciate it.
If you enjoy learning about the early people of the
southwest I recommend Craig Childes book, “House of Rain”. He tells of his
personal journey from Chaco Canyon, to Mesa Verde, across southeast Utah,
northeast Arizona and off the Mogollon Rim into the Sonoran deserts and finally
into Mexico. He follows the migration routes of the early puebloan people piecing
together their lives in an exploration of Great Houses, silent and haunting
cliff dwellings, archeological digs and back-room museum collections. He takes
you with him and sweeps you away, very satisfying.
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| Examples of foundation architecture. |
Until next time. May all your explorations be full-filling.
Jackie
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| Visitor Center. |
