Manitou Cliff Dwellings facts for kids
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| Established | 1907 |
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| Location | 10 Cliff Road Manitou Springs, Colorado |
| Type | Archaeological museum |
The Manitou Cliff Dwellings is a special place you can visit in Manitou Springs, Colorado. It's a tourist attraction with buildings that look like ancient Ancestral Puebloan homes. These homes are called cliff dwellings because they were built into the sides of cliffs. You can find it just west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, right on U.S. Highway 24.
This attraction was first built in 1904 and opened to visitors in 1907. It has replica (meaning "copy") and rebuilt Pueblo cliff dwellings. There's also a museum with exhibits about the Ancestral Puebloan people. You can see copies of their tools, pottery, and weapons. The idea was to create an easy-to-visit version of these ancient homes. Visitors can walk through the replica dwellings and learn about the past. It's important to know that these specific dwellings in Manitou are not original ancient structures.
The Story Behind the Dwellings
The Ancestral Puebloans were a group of people who lived in the Southwestern United States. They lived in the Four Corners area from about 1200 B.C. to A.D. 1300. This area is where the states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. The Ancestral Puebloans built their amazing cliff dwellings there.
They did not live permanently in the Manitou Springs area. Their real homes were hundreds of miles southwest of Manitou Springs. The Manitou Cliff Dwellings were built in the early 1900s. They were created as a museum and a place for tourists to visit.
How the Manitou Dwellings Were Built
Some of the building materials for the Manitou Cliff Dwellings came from a real Ancestral Puebloan site. This site was near Cortez, Colorado, in the southwest part of the state. The materials were carefully moved by train to Manitou Springs. Then, they were put together to look like the Ancestral Puebloan buildings. These new buildings were made to resemble the ones found in the Four Corners region.
The main person behind this project was Virginia McClurg. She was the founder of the Colorado Cliff Dwelling Association. When the Manitou Cliff Dwellings first opened, it caused some debate. This was partly because it was presented as if it were an original, ancient site. This debate eventually led to problems for the Colorado Cliff Dwelling Association. It also created disagreements among experts who studied ancient cultures.
A famous early expert, Edgar Lee Hewett, is often mentioned at Manitou. People say he approved of the construction. However, he was actually hesitant to say the site was truly authentic. He didn't think much of these rebuilt structures. Today, the McClurg family still runs the Manitou Cliff Dwellings attraction.
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