Southwest Survival

Near this place, the first workable system for farming Colorado's dry southwestern plateau emerged some 2,000 years ago. Over the next twelve centuries, ancient farmers gradually developed techniques including water storage, plant breeding, precise planting cycles, and, beginning around A.D. 900, check-dam irrigation to coax crops from the desert. What they could not control through technology, they sought to influence through ritual and prayer. They planted smaller fields and reaped thinner harvests than modern farmers, yet they built the first settlements in present-day Colorado and perfected a model for dryland farming. Surviving in this difficult land with first-century technology required toughness, ingenuity, and faith. Extremes of temperature and scarce water helped shape the culture of ancient populations, who in turn brought their culture to bear on the land. From the sixth century on, local populations farmed extensively, and by the tenth century their small check-dams and reservoirs provided water that helped make these acres fertile. They also developed weaving, yucca ropes, and turquoise jewelry, and throughout this period they traded briskly with neighbors for things the earth or their own inventiveness could not provide. In this harsh land, they survived for more than a thousand years.

Colorado · United States