The Verde Valley in north central Arizona was first home to permanent settlements between the years 700 and 800.  These skilled farmers grew corn beans, squash, and cotton using canal irrigation.  Above the ground masonry dwellings are attributed to the Sinagua people who migrated to the valley by about 1125.

Tuzigoot is an ancient village or pueblo built by this Sinagua culture.  The pueblo consists of 110 rooms and 2nd and 3rd floors.  This pueblo sits high atop a hill overlooking the valley.

This picture was taken from Tuzigoot looking towards the old copper mining town of Jerome half way up the mountain.  Jerome is known as the most vertical town in America.  It is a tourist town with an arts and crafts community and original buildings from the 1800’s.  We visited Jerome about 13 years ago but not this trip.

The Montezuma Castle was built by southern Sinagua farmers in the early 1100’s.  It stands in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley and has five stories.  Early settlers thought this structure was Aztec in origin, hence the name.