Photos

Hovenweep National Monument includes six separate pueblos on the Utah/Colorado border. The towers of Hovenweep were built by ancestral Puebloans, a sedentary farming culture that occupied the Four Corners area from about A.D. 500 to A.D. 1300. Many theories attempt to explain the use of the towers -- celestial observatories, defensive structures, storage facilities, civil buildings, homes or any combination of the above. The name "Hovenweep" is a Paiute/Ute word meaning "Deserted Valley" which was adopted by pioneer photographer William Henry Jackson in 1874. Many Pueblo people maintain physical and spiritual connections to Hovenweep. (I definitely felt a spirit presence here, too).