Women to the Rescue
(Duane Smith)
Price: $15.99
Publisher:
Durango Herald Small Press (2005)
MVMA Item Number: women to the rescue
Number of Pages: 103
ISBN: 1887805141
From the Mesa Verde Centennial Book Series
Who saved Mesa Verde? Women did. Who created the national park? Women did. Women to the Rescue is their story. From the 1890's into 1906, a group of determined, dedicated women did all in their power to preserve the ruins, make the public aware, and arouse Congress to action to establish a park. Then, at the moment of victory, they split into two factions and that is the rest of the story.
The beginning of tourism in Mesa Verde is difficult to identify. We know the Ancestral Puebloans had trade connections with neighboring people. Scarlet macaw feathers, sea shells, turquoise and pottery all testify to this. The "moccasin telegraph" existed and so did the need to accommodate the travelers. Later, Dominguez and Escalante passed nearby in August of 1776. They too were "tourists" of sorts.