Montezuma's Castle and Indian Scouts

Today we visited Fort Verde and its four remaining buildings.  We have been to many forts, and there are certainly lots of similarities.  The best part of this one was the exhibit on the Indian scouts that worked for the army finding bands of other Indians.  As most tribal cultures, each tribe had its own language, customs, and religion.  Usually they did not work in cooperation with other tribes and often actively made war on them.  This is true for Native American tribal cultures as well as African tribes and others around the world.  It just made sense for those Apaches who could work for the Army and bring money home to their families.  They also secured peace for their tribe.  The men of the tribe felt that by working with the army and making war against the other tribes, they could maintain their status as warriors, even as they saw that lifestyle fading.

What's really sad is how the scouts were treated after the Indian Wars ended.  Many of them, including some who received the Medal of Honor from the government, were imprisoned simply because their main advocate, General Crook, had died.  The government felt that they were, after all, still Apaches and not to be trusted.  They were detained as prisoners of war for up to 28 years.

Mark was extremely moved by all of this.  In some ways, he sees their plight to be similar to the federal employees and retirees of today.  Not all government promises to them are being kept.  The government seems to have a short memory when it comes to the service many people have given it.

Then we went to Montezuma Castle National Park. I had never heard of this place before we arrived here.  Nomadic tribes called Sinagua settled there around 1100 and built pueblos in the limestone cliffs outside of Camp Verde.  They continued to build and live there about 300 years and then vanished.  When it was discovered by whites, they thought it had been built by Aztecs, since the area had been part of Mexico.  Actually no Aztecs were ever here.

Up until 1951, people were allowed to climb ladders up and explore inside the many rooms of the castle.  Then just too many people were going there, so to preserve it, this was stopped.  It looked pretty high up to me.  There's no way I would have gone up there.

We then drove through some nasty rainstorms to get to Holbrook, right outside the Petrified Forest National Park.  Tomorrow we are exploring Winslow, Joseph City, and Holbrok.  Sunday we will go to the Forest and then make a long drive north to Page and Lake Powell.

One more week to go on this odyssey.

On the porch of the commanding officer's house.

Got my stamp for my passport.

The first view is a WOW moment.

Arizona sycamore trees were used for posts and beams in the pueblo.

Castle A was five floors of square structures, like a condo!  This is me in front of some of the places where the structures existed. 

Up until 1951 you could go up inside, but afterwards, this diorama was made to show what it was like.

We ran in and out of some nasty storms on the way to Holbrook.  This is near the Meteor Crater outside of Flagstaff