Southern Utah is spectacular! There is an awesome mixture of incredible scenery, made up mostly of bizarre and wonderful rock formations of all colors; ancient history; wide open spaces; and peace and solitude. To the left is a picture of the Butler Wash ruins, west of Blanding. The Anasazi lived here about 700-1000 years ago, abandoning the site around 1300 AD.

As the wider view shows, the dwellings of the Anasazi were not easily accessible off the freeway exit! Indeed, it looks like they risked their necks every time they left home or returned. They must have had ladders to access the communities tucked into these massive rock enclaves on the sides of the cliffs. Amazing! They must have had a very insular existence...for one thing, if you weren't in shape, you didn't leave home! Archaeologists have speculated on why the Anasazi built their cribs in such inaccessible locations, and the obvious answer is that there were folks around that didn't like them, and whacked the Anasazi every chance they got. So the Anasazi built easily defensible homes.