Settlers Thought This Cliff Castle in a Cave in Arizona Was Built by Aztecs—But It’s Actually Even Older
, 2023-01-02 06:32:08,
Built within a cliff alcove ninety feet from a Arizona The valley floor, an ancient Native American “fort”, remained a mystery to settlers in the area for decades until historians discovered that the unique structure had a much older and richer history than originally thought.
When settlers and veterans of the Mexican-American War came to the Verde Valley in the 1840s, they wrongly assumed that the pre-Columbian fort, which was located in a limestone causeway in Beaver Creek Canyon, along what is now I- 17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff, may have been built by the Aztecs. They named it Montezuma Castle, after the 16th-century Aztec Emperor Montezuma II.

The Conquest of Mexico, published in 1843 by Walter Hickling Prescott, substantiated this claim, depending To historian and Owlcation contributor Chuck Nugent. Prescott hypothesizes that the Aztecs and their Toltec ancestors built many such dwellings in the American Southwest before migrating to Mexico.
Nugent said that a number of articles written in the late 20th century attributed Montezuma Castle to the Aztecs. But while the Verde Valley dwelling has retained its Aztec name, its bewildering history is now better understood.
“the cliff Nugent said…
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