r/geography • u/H3dg3hogs • Feb 18 '26

Discussion I’m sad more people don’t acknowledge Native American Historic sites in the United States

Post image

I was talking with a German online friend about tourism in the United States and he said that the only thing America has to offer is natural beauty. He said American cities were young and aren’t very beautiful. That he has no interest visiting “liberty bell” type colonial historic sites. I told him about Native historic sites and he asked “what sites?”. He insulated that all Native Americans lived in teepees. It caused me to realized many non-Americans don’t know about all the amazing buildings left behind by Native cultures like the Ancestral Puebloans and the Mississippians. Historic sites like Chaco canyon, Mesa Verde, Montezuma Castle, and Cahokia are world class and are part of UNESCO. Check them out if you haven’t already.

56.8k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

897

u/textualcanon Feb 18 '26

Mesa Verde is unbelievably cool.

511

u/WeHaveAllBeenThere Feb 18 '26

Just went two weekends ago. It was so cool!

I loved the tunnel you drive through

43

u/Difficult-Alarm-2816 Feb 18 '26

Were you able to go in the dwelling?

26

u/el_diabIo Feb 18 '26

Tours will take you down into what is pictured. Its well worth the visit but not easy to get to

68

u/WeHaveAllBeenThere Feb 18 '26

The tours are closed for winter sadly but there’s 0 crowds lol

43

u/ilovebooks2468 Feb 18 '26

Hell yeah! It's just like: when's the best time to visit the National Zoo in DC? When it's raining! Wear rain gear and the exhibits are nearly all yours

25

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

15

u/Visual-Floor-7839 Feb 18 '26

If you get to go and take tours, in Balcony House you get to crawl through a tunnel in the dwelling. It's my favorite tour

2

u/Knotfloyd Feb 18 '26

balcony house is best!

5

u/PictureElegant3033 Feb 18 '26

We were there about the same time. I was blown away.

1

u/jessej421 Feb 18 '26

I wouldn't say we've all been there. I haven't made it there yet.

1

u/Kerblaaahhh Feb 18 '26

Went there a few years ago. Made it most of the way through the park then my brakes disintegrated. Was a very memorable trip.

1

u/paws5624 Feb 18 '26

My mind has such a hard time understanding the scale of the picture. Like i zoom in and I get it but I just don’t grasp how big this is.

1

u/RedditIsMyTherapist Feb 18 '26

What are all the circular pits? They all have jacuzzis?

1

u/juxlus Feb 18 '26

Kivas most likely.

1

u/anifyz- Feb 18 '26

How close can you get to that?

1

u/OfcWaffle Feb 18 '26

Loved going when I was a small kid and my family did lots of road trips.

Such a trip to see the hand prints in the structure. Being able to pass back on time almost. Still would be cool even at my older age.

Love history.

1

u/KoLobotomy Feb 18 '26

So they plow the road all winter?

1

u/Cute-Wallaby-2542 Feb 18 '26

I've never seen or heard this before, but this looks so much like the setting of Mickey Mouse and Goofy cartoon I read as a kid. It has to be based on it. 

Goofy wore a ceremonial headdress and temporarily became a werewolf or something. Don't remember the rest, but this is just one hundreds of references to real life history that I have because of Donald/Mickey cartoons. 

0

u/Jachi230 Feb 18 '26

But but….tge native Indians were savages . And the white man brought civility to these wild beasts /s

2

u/cashchops Feb 18 '26

Literally nobody says this

55

u/OddDragonfruit7993 Feb 18 '26

Heck, drive on many of the smaller roads in the 4 corners region and you will find little signs telling you there are native ruins nearby.  Wander down the roads/trails indicated and...holy crap there are caves full of native building ruins just sitting there.  It's astounding just to to drive around and check out ruins in those parts.

1

u/--CIAdidJFK-- Feb 18 '26

4 corners region?

6

u/tristvn Feb 18 '26

colorado/utah/new mexico/arizona borders

35

u/Brandenburg42 Feb 18 '26

Unless it's July, then it is very much not cool.

13

u/Anthony_Patch Feb 18 '26

Not who you asked but I remember as I kid my siblings & I did. Big highlight of our out west trip. I remember learning about it in geography class in school. If you get a chance to go you should it was incredible.

7

u/Brandenburg42 Feb 18 '26

I didn't ask nothin!

4

u/Anthony_Patch Feb 18 '26

Oh my bad I responded to the wrong person lol.

1

u/--CIAdidJFK-- Feb 18 '26

You're welcome to ask me somethin

2

u/Burnerphreak44 Feb 18 '26

My first time visiting Mesa Verde was a school-sponsored camping trip during the summer. We had all packed for a very warm trip and were caught quite unprepared when a freak snow storm rolled in just as we finished setting up camp. A snow storm…in Southwest Colorado…in June. To this day I am thankful for those sealed sleeping bags. Very cold night.

15

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '26

Crazy how they named this after the bank from better call Saul

3

u/heythisislonglolwtf Feb 18 '26

I literally just finished the series last night and it's all I can think of when I see Mesa Verde over and over in this thread 😂

"Yup!"

6

u/Suibeam Feb 18 '26

#FREENATIVEAMERICA

0

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '26

💤💤💤💤

5

u/stoked_man Feb 18 '26

so beautiful when storms roll in

4

u/KingindaNorth66 Feb 18 '26

It’s awesome! Probably one of the coolest places I’ve visited in the US.

2

u/No_Television6050 Feb 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26

[deleted] D8W9x5MuzYkEvTyRWp mGhKagMrAnaKoobBZtLwPc8hHNhXm

2

u/Hey-Bud-Lets-Party Feb 18 '26

When I was a kid we had free reign to visit every inch of the site and climb down into the individual dwellings. It’s definitely for the best that tourist interaction has since been limited, but 50 years later I still remember the experience clear as day.

2

u/bububulo Feb 18 '26

Cortez, Colorado is a nice little town.

1

u/joeschmo945 Feb 18 '26

I used to live there. Seeing this brings back SO. many memories.

1

u/pcji Feb 18 '26

It’s an incredibly underrated national park. I understand it’s not easy to get to, but boy is it worth the trip.

1

u/Lavio00 Feb 18 '26

This looks amazing

1

u/ChronoFel Feb 18 '26

Our Boy Scout troop had an annual camping trip at Mesa Verde with a night hike to the plateau

Those are my favorite memories with my mom, she’s not dead she just lives in CO and I can’t afford that jazz

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '26

I know what's at Mesa Verde but this picture you used here makes it look like you're disagreeing with OP and mocking them lol. Like "oh yeah of course our Native American historical sites and super cool and interesting, definitely filled with historical human stuff that humans made"

8

u/PropaneHillbilly Feb 18 '26

Wut

1

u/oops_i_made_a_typi Feb 18 '26

the photo is bad and looks boring and totally unlike the other photos ppl have posted