Tonto National Monument in Arizona features well-preserved cave dwellings built by the Salado people during the 13th and 14th centuries. The Salado settled in the region due to the presence of the Salt River and natural resources. The dwellings were built into cliffs and provided shelter while maintaining proximity to resources. The largest dwelling had 32 rooms and was occupied for about 300 years before being abandoned in the 15th century. The Salado culture is a continuing area of archaeological investigation.
Located near Phoenix, Arizona in the Tonto National Forest, the Tonto National Monument has been a registered United States Historic Site since 1966. Located in the northeastern part of the Sonoran Desert, the monument features cave dwellings built by the people Salado during the thirteenth century and were inhabited by them until the fourteenth century and until the fifteenth. The cave dwellings of Tonto National Monument remain in good condition and visitors are welcome to explore them.
What is now the Salt River Valley was originally, as far as possible, settled by Hohokam settlers around the year 850. Not much is known about the Hohokam, but the Salado culture is believed to have integrated the Hohokam around 1150. it is assumed that the first Hohokam settlers, followed by the Salado, were attracted to the region that is now the Tonto National Forest by the presence of the Salt River, which, as a natural source of water, offered many essential resources, in addition to the plateaus and slopes that provided prickly pears, agave and other natural vegetation. Indeed, the Salado culture received its name in the early 20th century from the “giver of life” Rio Salado, or river of salt.
The area’s resources have also attracted rabbits, deer, and various animals and birds which has enabled the Salado culture to hunt game and enjoy a varied diet. The Salado, like the Hohokam before them, initially inhabited the Salt River valley, but it is speculated that natural erosion and a growing population eventually forced them up the bluffs and hills above the valley. The rugged cliffs and hills overlooking the river valley proved to be a functional location for settlement. Shallow caves in the cliff faces provided shelter from the elements while maintaining proximity to the natural resources below.
The Salado cave dwellings that are preserved at Tonto National Monument are built of rocks and mud and, in their initial state, were similar to modern multi-room apartments, some with two levels, terraces, and functional roofs. Indeed, the largest section, now known as the Upper Cliff Dwelling, had 32 rooms and eight of them had two floors. Salado occupied these dwellings for about 300 years before leaving in about 1450. Very little is known about the Salado culture or why people abandoned the cave dwellings housed in the Tonto National Monument. They are known only through their ruins, which are a continuing area of archaeological investigation.
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