Mitchell Springs Ruin Group listed in National Register

Mitchell Springs Ruin Group listed in National Register

Dec. 1, 2001

KARI KIRKHAM (on left), a student from Southern Illinois University; Thomas Medder (running the machine) of Eastern Illinois University; and Phil Szymcek of Southern Illinois use subsurface-imaging equipment to survey for underground ruins at Mitchell Springs last summer. The site south of Cortez was recently named to the National Register of Historic Places.

By Janelle Holden
Journal staff writer

The ruins of a prehistoric community south of Cortez have made the National Register of Historic Places.

Owner Don Dove said the Mitchell Springs Ruins Group is indeed a special place.

"It’s one of the largest sites here close to Cortez, other than of course Mesa Verde," said Dove, a retired electrical engineer with a master’s degree in archaeology.

Dove said the new listing will help protect the prehistoric community, and perhaps bring more public exposure to Ancestral Puebloan architecture.

"I don’t mind the publicity, actually, because I do like to have visitors to come look at it," said Dove.

Last year, Dove protected his 110 acres of buried Ancestral Puebloan ruins with a conservation easement.

The easement includes financial penalties for excavating the resources on the property without following proper archaeological procedures and getting an excavation permit from Colorado’s State Historic Preservation Office. It was the first archaeological easement in the state.

Dove purchased the property, which was once part of a 160-acre tract, in 1988 from the granddaughter of the property’s original homesteader.

The property is also being used for educational purposes. For the past 11 years, Dove has teamed up with archaeological field schools from Arizona colleges to conduct sample excavations. Currently, students from Glendale College in Phoenix attend three two-week summer sessions, which Dove helps lead, on the property.

Dove said that the excavations have only "scratched the surface" of what lies under the ground, but any artifacts found are housed on the property.

Already, students have discovered a range of architectural styles dating from 800 A.D. to the mid-thirteenth century, and several unique features such as an unusually large kiva and a D-shaped tri-wall. Dove said archaeologists believe the tri-wall may be associated with the solstice systems.

The site may yet yield important discoveries relating to social history, agriculture, commerce, and community planning and development.

The National Register is an official federal list of historic sites worth preserving.