Montezuma County

Apr 16, 1889 - the legislature created Montezuma County from La Plata County , Cortez was made the County Seat.

Montezuma County, in the southwest corner of Colorado, is where the San Juan Mountains meet the desert canyon country

The Anasazi, or Ancestral Puebloans, were a prehistoric Native American culture (circa A.D. 200?1300) that thrived in the Four Corners region of the Southwest (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico). Known for building sophisticated masonry dwellings in canyons and cliffs, they were skilled farmers who grew corn and squash and are ancestors to modern Pueblo peoples. The Anasazi Indians, lived in the Mesa Verde for more than 1,000 years. They farmed the mesas, created a thriving, civilization that eventually built hundred-room cities in the cliffs and caves of Mesa Verde.

The Cliff Palace, which has 150 rooms, 23 kivas, and several towers, at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.

The Ute Indians have lived in the region about 400 years; however, they are not believed to be descendants of the Anasazi, who abandoned the area in 1300 AD. The present Ute Mountain Ute Reservation was formed in 1897 by the Weeminuche Band of Utes. In 1895 they established a camp on the western end of the old Southern Ute Reservation, in what is today called Towaoc.

The Ute Mountain Utes and their cousins, the Southern Utes in Ignacio, are the only tribes remaining in Colorado today. The Ute Mountain Utes speak their native language as well as English, and their children attend public school in Cortez.

For more information on researching your Native American roots, check out the Colorado Native Americans Page.

Montezuma Sources

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