Montezuma Castle National Monument

Located in Arizona’s Verde Valley and encompassing more than 800 acres, Montezuma Castle National Monument is one of the four original sites that President Theodore Roosevelt designated as national monuments in 1906 under the American Antiquities Act. President Roosevelt identified Montezuma Castle as a place “of the greatest ethnological value and scientific interest.” Historians believe that Sinagua women built the structures between 1100 CE and 1350 CE. A pre-Columbian culture, the Sinagua people lived near Flagstaff and Verde Valley—several of today’s Hopi clans trace their ancestry to the Sinagua, who lived in the area between 500 CE and 1425 CE. By the time Montezuma Castle National Monument was designated in 1906, treasure hunters and looters had damaged the structures and stolen many artifacts. Today, the monument works to preserve the important cultural and historical values of this place.