Balcony House lies in Soda Canyon about 2½ miles southeast of Spruce Tree
Camp, and is reached by a continuation of the Cliff Palace Road. It is
one of the most picturesque of the accessible ruins in the park and
occupies a better position for defense than most of the other ruins on
the mesa. A few defenders could have repelled a numerous attacking force.
Additional precautions have been taken at the south end of the ruin for
the strengthening of its defenses, where the only means of reaching it is
through a very narrow cleft. The south part of the ledge was walled up to
a height of about 15 feet, the lower part of the wall closing the cleft
being pierced by a narrow tunnel. Through this tunnel a man may creep on
hands and knees from the cliff dwelling to the south part of the ledge,
which affords a footing, with a precipice to the left and the cliff to
the right, for about 100 paces. The ledge here terminates in the
perpendicular wall of the canyon. The ruined walls of a strong tower,
built to cut off approach on this side, may still be traced. At the north
end of the ruin the foundation gave the builders considerable trouble,
but the difficulties were skillfully overcome. A supporting wall was
erected on a lower ledge, to form a stable foundation for the outer wall
of the upper rooms, where the higher ledge was too narrow or too rough
for building purposes.
South of the rooms fronted by this wall is a small open court, bounded at
the back by a few very regular and well-preserved walls which rise to the
roof of the cave. The poles supporting the floors of these upper-story
rooms project about 2 feet to provide support for a balcony. Split poles,
laid parallel with the front wall, were covered at right angles with rods
of cedar bast and generously plastered with clay to form the floor of the
balcony, which served as a means of outside communication between the
rooms of the upper story. A low, thick parapet wall built on the edge of
the precipice encloses the outer side of the northern court.
The funds for the excavation and repair of Balcony House in 1911 were
largely furnished by the Colorado Cliff Dwellers Society, an organization
founded and directed by Mrs. Gilbert McClurg, of Colorado Springs, Colo.,
for the original purpose of stimulating interest in legislation for the
preservation and protection of the prehistoric remains of the Mesa Verde,
which led to the creation of this national park in 1906.