Mesa Verde
In 1888 in South Colorado the weather was cold.
Snow was falling. Some cows were missing. Two cowboys, [Richard Wetherill
and Charlie Mason] were sent to look for them. They rode over a mesa. A
mesa is sort of like a flat topped mountain. The Spanish called it Mesa
Verde or ''green table'' because the mesas were covered with trees and
plants. The cowboys came to an edge of a deep canyon. They looked through
the snow and saw [what they called] a magnificent city. Most of it was
in ruins. They guessed it had been deserted for many years. Since it was
built on the side of a cliff they called it Cliff Palace. Some of
the houses were two or three stories high. Some of them were dug in to
the ground like basements. Around the city there were broken pieces of
black and white pottery. The men went to look at the other canyons.
They found two more cities. During these years archaeologists have found
buildings , pottery, woven blankets, stone tools, bone tools, bows and
arrows, and clothing . The archaeologists have also found buried people
who lived in the city.
The Native Americans who lived there grew corn,
beans, and squash. Scientists think that the Anasazi lived in the
city. The Mesa Verde is a national park because people stole pottery
and other things. In the Mesa Verde there is a very big tree house. The
tree house's name is Spruce Tree House. The Spruce Tree House was a house
to 100 people. It had 114 rooms. Spruce Tree House isn't a real tree house.
It's really tons of houses squished together. The plants are pinyon and
juniper trees.
Park Ranger's Job
This is all about park rangers . Do you
want to go on? O.K., let's go. Rangers have a lot of responsibilities. Rangers
greet visitors when the people come in. Rangers tell all the rules to everyone
before they go in. Rangers show you and teach you about nature. Rangers
help and protect nature in the parks. They search and rescue people who
are lost or hurt. Some rangers have to be good horseback riders. They
can be fire fighters in case of a fire. Rangers count birds and fish they
might have in the park.
E-mail
to Barbara Lawrence
Return to National Parks
Page
Click on the apple to return to Orchard School's
Home Page. 
This page last updated: 08/28/04
.
|
