People of the Verde

People have lived along the Verde River for at least thirteen thousand years, drawn by its water, shade, and rich bottomland. Farming villages grew here over centuries, and by the 1100s scattered homesteads gave way to gathered pueblos like Tuzigoot, a ridge-top town whose descendants include the Hopi, the Zuni, and the Yavapai-Apache. Archaeologists call these Verde Valley farmers the Southern Sinagua, a Spanish term meaning without water, though the people themselves were anything but strangers to this river. By 1200 their communities lined the Verde and every tributary that fed it.

What the plaque says

People have long been drawn to settle in the Verde Valley for its plentiful food sources, water, and natural shelters. The earliest people to arrive left behind fluted spear points that date to 13,000 years ago. About 1,500 years ago, people began to settle more permanently, marking the beginning of long-term growth of agricultural communities throughout the valley. As people began living together in larger numbers during the 1100s, settlements like Tuzigoot replaced small, dispersed farming sites. By the year 1200, communities extended all along the Verde River and its tributaries.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tuzigoot — 0.3 mi
  A hilltop Sinagua pueblo over the Verde, dug out of the ground in the Depression
• Jerome — 5.2 mi
  The billion-dollar copper camp clinging to Cleopatra Hill — now the largest ghost town in America
• Montezuma Castle — 15 mi
  A five-story Sinagua cliff dwelling, misnamed for an emperor who was never here
• Sedona — 17 mi
  Red-rock skyline, Little Hollywood, and the town Sedona Schnebly gave her name to

More markers nearby

• Clark Memorial Clubhouse — 1.7 mi
• United Verde Copper Company Smelter — 1.8 mi
• Jerome, Arizona — 4.8 mi
• The Audrey Shaft and UVX Operations — 5.0 mi