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I saw a little city of stone asleep... Willa Cather
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First people came to place called now Mesa Verde - Green Plateau approximately 750 years ago. Anasazi or Ancestral Pueblans build here several villages. The most of them was build in 1 100 - 1 300. At this time it could live here a few thousand inhabitants. Farming was the main business of these people, but they supplemented their crops of beans, corn, and squash by gathering wild plants and hunting deer, rabits, squirrels,... Their only domestic animals were dogs and turkeys.The walls were inside decorated. I lower parts they built - Kiva - oval rooms that were use mainly for ceremonial purpose. The biggest local pueblo called Cliff Palace has 23 kivas and more than 200 rooms.
Nowadays you can visit 35 archeological places. Hundreds others are closed for the public. At some of them you can go just with ranger and you have to have ticket. The cost per ticket is $ 1.75.
Over time, growing populations at Mesa Verde caused a search for suitable land all over southeast Utah’s canyon country. By 1200 A.D., large groups had moved into the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park, especially in Salt Creek.