Near Pleasant View in Montezuma County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
What Did it Look Like?
Lowry Pueblo National Historic Landmark
| | Canyons of the Ancients National Monument | |
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 17, 2025
1. What Did it Look Like? Marker
All Ancestral Puebloan sites have distinctive fronts and backs. The fronts are defined by doorways that open onto the plaza. The backs can be recognized by the absence of doorways.
Mark Varien, archaeologist
Notice how this west wall is straight and featureless. It is the back of the building. The apparent absence of ground-floor doorways may show a concern for defense or at least a preference for ladders, roof entryways, and limited access.
Rows of evenly spaced holes are visible in the standing walls. Log roof beams were placed into these holes to support a second floor. The bottom floor was below today's ground surface. When people lived here, the pueblo probably had two stories.
Archaeologists found a refuse mound ashes, food remains, and discarded broken tools and pottery outside the building and near this corner. Layered trash deposits can also be found in unused rooms and are important for understanding the daily life of Ancestral Puebloan people and how it changed over time.
There are some interesting objects that have been recovered at this site that are similar to things we still have at home. Like an awl. I recovered one from my house that is a bone awl used for stringing ears of corn after we roasted them.
Eric Polingyouma, Hopi
Erected by
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Architecture • Indigenous Peoples and Communities.
Location. 37° 35.076′ N, 108° 55.212′ W. Marker is near Pleasant View, Colorado, in Montezuma County. It can be reached from County Road 7.25 0.3 miles south of County Road CC. The marker is located on the Lowry Pueblo National Historic Landmark interpretive trail. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Pleasant View CO 81331, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American Mountain West, in Colorado Plateau, and at the Four Corners. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Mexicos Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Painted Kivas (a few steps from this marker); Construction, Expansion & Remodeling (a few steps from this marker); The Best Rooms in Town (a few steps from this marker); Life Outside (within shouting distance of this marker); Footprints (within shouting distance of this marker); Lowry Ruin (within shouting distance of this marker); The Great Kiva (within shouting distance of this marker); Common Ground (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Pleasant View.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Lowry Pueblo National Historic Landmark
Also see . . . Lowry Pueblo National Historic Landmark (www.cyark.org)
2. Marker detail: Lowry Pueblo Illustration
Archaeologists believe the building had only one ground-level entry leading in from the east side.
Excerpt: The Lowry Pueblo National Historic Landmark is a Puebloan Great House that contains thirty-seven rooms, eight kivas, and one Great Kiva. Archaeologists have dated the construction and occupation of the site to 100 years in the 11th Century though there is evidence that people continued to use the site into the mid-1200s. Lowry Pueblo was first recorded in 1918 by the Jesse Walter Fewkes of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American ethnology and was first excavated by Paul S. Martin from the Chicago based Field Museum in 1930, 1931, 1933 and 1934.(Submitted on December 28, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 17, 2025
3. What Did it Look Like? Marker
The marker is located near the southwest corner of the main pueblo ruins. Today the historic structures are protected by a contemporary free-standing steel canopy.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 30, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 26, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 47 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 28, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
