Here is a fantastic picture I found on the Internet of the Tuzigoot (Two-zi-goo-t) pueblo! When you are at the pueblo you can only capture parts of it in photos. You walk up to the pueblo from the right side of the picture.
This is the stairway to the tower at the top of the mass of pueblos.
Roy must have a connection with lizards as they always seem to come out to greet him!
This is the inside of the tower pueblo.
This is the view from the top of the tower pueblo looking back towards the visitor's center.
This is the view looking down from the opposite side of the tower pueblo. Amazing, isn't it!
This is looking back up towards the top from the pueblos in the prior picture.
This is the view from the top of the pueblo tower looking west toward Clarkdale. You may remember that Clarkdale, founded in 1912, was established as a company town to house the workers for the Clarkdale Copper Smelter that you can see in the distance on the right side of the picture. The Clarkdale Smelter operated from around 1912-1953. The field in the picture and surrounding Tuzigoot was the tailings pond for the former United Verde Copper Mine located in Jerome. If you enlarge the picture, you can get an idea of how close the mining community of Jerome is. Jerome was established around 1883. It is located in the hills near the left side of the picture just below the highest pointed peak. The Sinagua Indians occupied Tuzigoot between 1125-1425AD. They would have abandoned Tuzigoot long before the mining began.
Many artifacts were found in Tuzigoot. The visitors center has many nice displays!
This interactive screen at the visitor's center is fascinating. Look at all the known pueblos in the Verde Valley!!!
Take one more look at the magnificent structure known as Tuzigoot! It is the largest and best preserved of the many Sinagua pueblo ruins in the Verde Valley. It is reported to have 110 rooms!
