House on Fire

This photo is of the iconic "House on Fire" Anasazi ruin in Mule Canyon (located in Southern Utah, near Blanding and the Natural Bridges National Monument). Most of the hundreds of ancient ruins on and around Cedar Mesa are some distance from paved roads, but not those in Mule Canyon, which are easily accessed from a trailhead beside UT 95, and so the hike along the ravine is one of the most popular in the area. The canyon has two branches, both aligned northwest-southeast, parallel to the highway, and as the south fork is closest and contains more ruins, that is the drainage usually visited.
At least eight groups of structures are found along the sunny north side of the canyon over a distance of 4 miles, some close to the path, others up to 200 feet above, and most are straightforward to reach. They include a cluster of well preserved granaries known as the House on Fire featured in this photo (so named due to the colorful, streaked sandstone ceiling above), and the unusual Wall Ruin, built in cavities in a vertical, potmarked cliff, and containing some intact rooms complete with all the original roof timbers. Even though Mule Canyon is relatively short, like others in the area it is a popular backpacking destination, although relatively unsigned (in places the trail vanishes altogether).
The Anasazi ("Ancient Ones"), thought to be ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians, inhabited the Four Corners country of southern Utah, southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, and northern Arizona from about A.D. 200 to A.D. 1300, leaving a heavy accumulation of house remains and debris. Recent research has traced the Anasazi to the "archaic" peoples who practiced a wandering, hunting, and food-gathering life-style from about 6000 B.C. until some of them began to develop into the distinctive Anasazi culture in the last millennium B.C. During the last two centuries B.C., the people began to supplement their food gathering with maize horticulture. By A.D. 1200 horticulture had assumed a significant role in the economy.
Starting sometime after A.D. 1250 the Anasazi moved out of the Cedar Mesa area, often walking away from their settlements as though they intended to return in a few minutes - or so it looks. Why did they leave behind their beautiful cooking pots and baskets? Perhaps because they had no means to transport them. When forced to migrate a long distance, it was more efficient to leave the bulky items and replace them after they reached their destination.
What is known is that they moved south. Classic late Mesa Verde-style settlements can still be recognized in New Mexico and Arizona, in high, defensible locations in areas where the local Anasazi sites look quite different. By A.D. 1400 almost all the Anasazi from throughout the Southwest had aggregated into large pueblos scattered through the drainages of the Little Colorado and Rio Grande rivers in Arizona and New Mexico. Their descendants are still there in the few surviving pueblos.
Why did they leave? It is impossible to find a single cause that can explain it, but there appear to be several that contributed. First, the climate during the period was somewhat unstable with erratic rainfall patterns and periods of drought. This weather problem climaxed with a thirty-year drought starting about 1270 that coincided with a cooling trend that significantly shortened the growing season. Perhaps the expanding population had pressed the limits of the land's capacity to support the people so that they were unable to survive the climatic upheavals of the thirteenth century. Could they have been driven out by nomadic tribes, such as Utes or Navajos? There is no direct evidence that either group, or any other like them, was in the area that early. The mystery is part of the lure of these stately, enduring, but undeniably haunting ruins.
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On this particular day the sky was cloudy and overcast, and with excitement I quickly changed my plans (hiking in lower Canyonlands Needle District) and headed to Mule Canyon. Excited, because non-direct lighting is the best for capturing the intricacies of the red rock and bringing out the highlights, lowlights, and contrasts between the layers of rock. All the rock in this canyon is basically orange -- so in bright light you get more of a monochromatic blah that makes photos somewhat uninteresting.
Perhaps because of the weather I had the entire canyon essentially to myself, seeing only one or two other explorers the entire day. At first I enjoyed this, but the deeper I got into the canyon the more the atmosphere of the place seemed to settle over me -- the geographical isolation, the quiet, the solitude, all seemed to whisper of lost tribes, vanished people, and decayed civilizations. As I penetrated ever deeper into the canyon, visiting ruin after ruin and seeing no-one, I began to feel the ageless and unquiet weight of the vanished Anasazi people, peering from their crumbling homes and lofty cliff dwellings. Let's just say I pretty much creeped myself out by the time I headed out of the canyon. :) In my defense, I think it would take a pretty insensitive person not to be struck by the majesty, the wonder, and the mystery of these ancient dwellings. A spiritual and awesome experience!! I hope you enjoy the photo...
http:--tribaldirectory.com-information-anasazi-indians.html
http:--www.desertusa.com-ind1-du_peo_ana.html
https:--utahscanyoncountry.wordpress.com-2012-04-25-house-on-fire-ruin-south-fork-of-mule-canyon-
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