My visit to the Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park in Globe, Arizona

This was the first time I ever visited Besh Ba Gowah. When I went it was very quiet, and not very crowded. When I entered the site, a family with two small, noisy children left. At first I was relieved, but then, I started getting nervous because I felt like someone was watching me. While I was walking around a small rabbit kept popping around the ruins looking at me. Every time I tried to find him he would disappear in a hole under the pueblo. The pueblo had so many rooms it seemed almost like a maze. In the still, and quiet of the day, this place seemed very sacred to me. I enjoyed the site, but I wish I would have had a tour guide; I enjoy those so much more. They only have tours for big groups. This is a wonderful place full of history and I would recommend visiting at least once in your lifetime.

The Native Americans that resided in these pueblos had gardens, and hunted for wild game. Archaeologists believe that the pueblos looked like stone that was covered with a smooth dry clay and mud plaster. This plaster was on all of the interior and exterior walls. These people excelled at both farming and hunting. Evidence suggests that the Salado people, or Salt people, were some of the healthiest late prehistoric populations in the American Southwest. This is due to a well balanced diet of both food crops and wild game. The inhabitants of Besh Ba Gowah traded with other distinct people for shell, pottery, cloth and exotic goods. Trade seems to have formed a major cornerstone in Salado life, and Besh Ba Gowah might have served as a major trading center. Within a Salado home, one of the principal chores was preparing food. Salado kitchens were well stocked with tools for harvesting, cleaning, cooking, serving and storing a variety of foods. Stone knives were used to harvest plants, skin and butcher game. Stone hoes were used in growing crops such as corn, beans, squash, and grasses. Manos and metates were used to grind seeds and corn. Pottery was used to store grain, cook meals and serve food. Salado farmers had several different types of farming strategies: dry farming, flood plain farming, and irrigation farming. The Salado hunted for game in the higher surrounding mountains. In addition, wild plant foods and medicines from these mountainous regions were collected and brought back. The Salado people lived in relative peace and tranquility with their neighbors in the surrounding regions. Until, near the end of the 14th century a period of social upheaval began. Climatic changes appeared which caused local streams and water sources to dry up. As food became scarce, residents of many pueblos began to turn on one another. A period of warfare began which may have lead to the abandonment of the region.

The first residents to live at Besh ba Gowah were the Hohokams. Here they lived in large oval houses built in shallow pits. Interior wooden posts supported the walls and roof, which were made of clay covered brush. This earlier Hohokam village may have been occupied from A.D. 800 to A.D. 1150. The Hohokams of Besh Ba Gowah used the distinctive red on buff colored pottery, carved stone bowls and pallets. They also made serrated projectile points and carved shell jewelry. The Hohokam people cremated their dead. At approximately, A.D. 1225 the Salado Native Americans began constructing the pueblo that exists today. This area attracted many settlements because of the availability of water, diverse food source, and a good climate for growing crops. The Salado people abandoned their civilization shortly after A.D. 1400. This area remained deserted until sometime after A.D. 1600. At this time the Apache Native Americans made it their home. The name Besh Ba Gowah comes from the Apache language. It translates in English as, “place of metal” or “metal camp”.

Besh Ba Gowah has a long history of professional work and amateur interest. The first archaeological recordation of Besh Ba Gowah was made by Adolf F. Bandelier on May 18, 1883 as part of a general exploration of the American Southwest. After Bandelier’s early work, little formal site investigation was undertaken until early 1935.

Formal excavation of Besh Ba Gowah began in early 1935 as a Federal Emergency Relief Administration, (FERA) project under the field direction of Irene S. Vickery. In October 1938, the Besh Ba Gowah excavation became a subproject under the Statewide Archaeological Project within the Works Projects Administration (WPA) with Harold Gladwin as the sponsors’ director. Irene Vickery remained as WPA supervisor with Emil Haury, her teacher adding counsel when requested. She worked at Besh Ba Gowah until the day she died. Vickery’s Besh Ba Gowah investigations included the complete excavation of most surface masonry rooms and the recovery of over 350 burials, and their offerings. Vickery’s early illness and then death prevented the completion of the analysis and publication of a final report. After her death the site was not protected for forty years. Total destruction from neglect and erosion was the result of this.

The people that lived at Besh Ba Gowah were very diverse in their crafts and eating habits. They made arrow heads for hunting wild game with metals or rocks found in the soil. They made cloth by weaving cotton and other fibers together. They also made beautifully painted pottery out of the soil found around them. They used this pottery for carrying water, storing and eating food. They had gardens with beans, squash, corn and grasses. These people also had crops to feed small herds of domestic animals. They also knew about natural wild plants that were bountiful in this area. They used wild plants to eat like nuts, berries, and seeds. Some plants were used for weaving baskets, rugs or sandals. The Yucca elata plant roots were mashed or cut up and used for shampoo. The Larrea tridentate leaves were boiled to make a broth used to treat colds, fevers and rheumatism. Besh Ba Gowah was a city within itself. When you enter there is a long corridor, this was the center of the site. It is believed that the pueblo had three stories to many of the buildings. It contained rooms to live, storage areas, a central plaza, burial room, and a ceremonial room. The Besh Ba Gowah people lived in an environment that could be harsh at times. They learned to sustain their culture by using the resources around them. The Besh Ba Gowah site has a lovely botanical garden with many of the same plants that the Salado people had.