Yucca House National Monument is a little-known site southwest of Cortez that for many years was considered almost too small to be protected. Now, thanks to land donations that were made recently and in the past, it appears to face a promising future.
Officials with the National Park Service gave a presentation about Yucca House Thursday evening at the Sunflower Theatre in Cortez. They also presented a plaque to Nancy and Bernard Karwick, who donated 160 acres of land so the monument could be expanded.
Amanda McCutcheon, acting superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park and Yucca House, said, “Thanks to their generosity, we are able to continue to protect Yucca House.”
The monument was established in 1919 after the original landowner, Henry Van Kleeck, gave 9.6 acres to the federal government. Yucca House is one of the oldest units in the National Park Service, supervisory park ranger Dalton Dorrell said at the presentation.
Dorrell said Jesse Fewkes, one of the earliest American archaeologists, “fell in love with the place” and befriended Kleeck, helping prompt him to make the donation.
Fewkes “was far ahead of his time,” Dorrell said.
The site holds a large example of a valley pueblo, something Mesa Verde does not have, Dorrell said. It was inhabited by the ancestral Puebloans between 1100 and 1300 A.D.
It contains numerous kivas, one great kiva, and about 450 to 600 rooms, according to archaeologist Laura Brumbaugh, who spoke at the Thursday presentation.
“How thankful we are for the preservation of this wonderful place,” Brumbaugh said.
However, when the monument was established, no money was appropriated to excavate it
Two archaeological studies were done in the 1960s, Dorrell said. In 1987, a management plan was created that outlined some of the obstacles to preserving it, which included the fact that it was very small, cut off from other important cultural sites, and could be “landlocked” by surrounding private lands so that there was no public access.
In 1990, Hallie Ismay, owner of the surrounding land, donated 24.27 acres to provide access. Ismay, who kept an eye on the monument, was named its honorary superintendent.
The Karwicks bought the land in 2006 and them made the donation of 160 acres.
“We’re honored to be able to play a small role,” Bernard Karwick said
The site remains unexcavated and has no facilities. Ironically, there is little if any yucca there. The original name of Aztec Springs was changed because the Aztec people weren’t associated with the site.
McCutcheon said a preliminary project plan in 2023 outlined some things that need to be done at the monument, including a more detailed archaeological survey, vegetation and hydrology studies, an interpretive strategy, and a transportation study to improve visitor access.
“It’s very exciting to be starting this planning process,” she said.
