Tonto National Monument
Tonto National Monument preserves dramatic cliff dwelling built by the Salado people in the late 1200s and early 1300s. The site is located in central Arizona, in the Sonoran Desert.
The monument protects two primary cliff dwellings constructed within natural limestone alcoves high above the valley floor. The multi-room masonry homes were built on local stone and adobe, carefully fitted into rock overhangs.
The Salado people were skilled agriculturalists, cultivating crops in the river valley while constructing durable, well-planned living spaces in the cliffs. Artifacts recovered from the site reflect a culture influenced by surrounding Ancestral Puebloan traditions.
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Southwestern archaeological sites were being looted for artifacts. Recognizing the cultural and scientific importance of these dwellings and the need to protect them from damage and removal.
Tonto National Monument was designated in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt. It stands not only as a scenic desert site, but as a preserved record of human adaptation, resilience and architectural skill.
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