Hovenweep: Ancient Ruins

Inclined ruin of an ancient house in Hovenweep, Utah.
Ruined house at the canyon edge in the Square Tower Canyon. 

Hovenweep means "deserted valley" in Ute/Paiute language. The name came long after the original dwellers left this canyon (the ancestral Puebloans). We don’t know how they called this place. I took the photo from a trail at the bottom of the Square Tower canyon. Built between A.D. 1200 and 1300, the ancient house still defies gravity at such an incline. Maybe magic. Utes and Navajos believed the ruins were haunted. Perhaps they were right.