Kinship Ties

The cliff dwelling above Beaver Creek was misnamed Montezuma Castle by later settlers who wrongly imagined the Aztec emperor had built it; in truth it was raised by ancestral Puebloan farmers of the Southern Sinagua. Their descendants keep the ties alive today. Hopi clans, the Parrot, Bear, Water, Cloud, Bluebird, and Spider among them, carry oral histories of living here, and the Zuni trace ancestral migrations through the valley. The Yavapai and Dilzhe'e Apache hold nearby Montezuma Well as a place of origin. The stone rooms are not a ruin but a link, still honored by living people.

What the plaque says

Memories, stories, and traditions continue to bind people today to this cultural heritage site. The community surrounding Montezuma Castle was one of related households. The Hopi Parrot, Bear, Water, Cloud, Bearstrap, Bluebird, and Spider clans all have oral histories about residing at Montezuma Castle, and traveled together during long migrations. The Zuni say their ancestors migrated through here as well. Ancestral Yavapai bands likely had interactions with these groups. Ancestors of the O'odham traded here, while the Tonto Apache and Yavapai consider nearby Montezuma Well their place of origin.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Montezuma Castle — 0.3 mi
  A five-story Sinagua cliff dwelling, misnamed for an emperor who was never here
• Tuzigoot — 15 mi
  A hilltop Sinagua pueblo over the Verde, dug out of the ground in the Depression
• Jerome — 18 mi
  The billion-dollar copper camp clinging to Cleopatra Hill — now the largest ghost town in America
• Sedona — 18 mi
  Red-rock skyline, Little Hollywood, and the town Sedona Schnebly gave her name to

More markers nearby

• Fort Verde — 3.3 mi
• The Apache Scouts and the Medal of Honor — 3.3 mi
• Camp Verde — 4.9 mi
• People of the Verde — 15 mi