Mesa Verde National Park was America's first cultural park and also the
world's first cultural heritage park. Created in 1906, it preserves the
sites and materials of the prehistoric Puebloan people. Located in
southwestern Colorado near the famous Four Corners, where the states of
Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet, the magnificent Mesa Verde
is situated in Montezuma County, just south of Cortez and directly west
of Durango. The park's rich archaeological history was played out amid
some of the most ruggedly beautiful landscapes in the West. The greater
story of the evolution of the park encompasses the Ute people, Theodore
Roosevelt, novelist Willa Cather, and other personalities. These
remarkable vintage photographs tell that saga, which is as fascinating
as that of the Puebloans.