Sunset Crater is the most recent volcano among the 400 in the Flagstaff
region, and is located 18 miles (29 km) south of here. It is one of the
few prehistoric volcanoes in the world that we can accurately date
(another being Mt. Mazama, where now is Crater Lake, Oregon), and one of
the few that had such a pronounced effect upon people living in the
area. When it erupted it covered almost 800 square miles (2080 sq km)
including the Wupatki area, with fine black volcanic ash. This eruption
took place _before_ the masonry pueblos in this region were built.
When the eruption was over, a few individuals probably returned to this
area and found, to their surprise and pleasure, they were able to mature
crops in locations where they hadn’t been able to farm before. The thin
layer of volcanic ash acted as a moisture-retaining mulch; the people
could plant their seeds in the underlying soil and the cinder cover
would hold enough moisture to insure them a good harvest.
When this word spread around, it created a great land rush, the only one
we know of in the Southwest. Large numbers of Indians from all over this
part of the Southwest swarmed into the region of the cinder fall to take
advantage of the new farming land. The Hohokam came from the south, the
Mogollon from the southeast and the Anasazi from the north.
The main concentration took place between A.D. 1100 and 1200, and during
that time the area between the San Francisco Mountains and the Little
Colorado River was inhabited by perhaps 8,000 Indians.
The abandonment of the area is as interesting as the occupation.
Tree-ring evidence indicates that from about A.D. 1215 to 1300 there was
a long drought of varying intensity which culminated in the great
drought of 1276-1299. Winds accompanying the drought turned the area
into a dust bowl, moving away the moisture-retaining cover of cinders
that the people had depended upon for their farming. The people left as
farming acreage decreased.
The Anasazi element apparently moved north or east into the Tsegi Canyon
or Hopi country, while the Sinagua moved south into the Verde Valley and
east to the Chavez Pass region near Winslow. By the mid-1200s Wupatki
probably was completely abandoned.
The National Park Service invites you to come again!