World+Geography

The Gila Cliff Dwellings The Gila Cliff Dwellings are located in New Mexico in the Gila National Wilderness that is in the Gila National Forest which is 3.3 million acres. The Cliff Dwellings were nationally proclaimed as a National Monument by Teddy Roosevelt on November 16, 1907. The Gila National Wilderness was the nation’s first wilderness area. John F. Kennedy added 375 acres to the wilderness on April17, 1962. The climate is mild with the rainy season from July to August. Spring and fall have moderate days and cool nights. Winter has nice afternoons and cold mornings and nights. Lightning is usually a problem in the rainy season. The area surrounding the dwellings is usually free of snow. The terrain is rugged and steep. There is little effect from air and water pollution from surrounding areas. There are not to many invasive species to destroy trees or plants. Because there is no roads going up to the cliff dwellings the dwellings look how they would have over 700 years ago. The canyon and surrounding area was created from a collapsed caldera, the top collapsed and created canyon walls and the hot springs that are in the surrounding area. A man named Adolph F. Bandelier discovered the ruins of the fallen culture in the area around the headwaters of the Gila river. He was on the discovery team for discovering the headwaters of rivers in the southwest. In the water, even though warm, Giardia may be present. The animals in the forest are Mule Deer, Elk, and Black Bear; Mountain lion, Coyotes, and Mexican Grey wolves; vultures, ravens, crows, hawks, humming birds and songbirds. The forest is inhabited by ponderosa pines, Gambel’s oak, Douglas fir, New Mexico Juniper, Pinion Pine, and Alligator pine. I believe that the park is important because it give insight to a culture that there isn’t much left about the Mogollon culture. The Mogollon people lived from the 1280’s to the 1300’s. The reasoning for the cliff dwellings being in a valley with such good visibility is the different cultures that they Mogollon’s were at war with. The Mogollon people made the dwellings with a strong influence from the Anasazi culture. The actual cliff dwellings have about 40 rooms within five different sandstone caves. Very little is known about the Mogollon people. The Gila cliff dwellings are the rarest national monument in the U.S. because very little is known about the Mogollon people.