Chaco Canyon

Jacob Thibodeau

A few years ago I took a trip with a boy’s home in Lawrence to Chaco Canyon. I had never heard of the place before, but was excited to see the place. I had always been interested in Native peoples and history in general and was excited to share this with the boys that I was in charge of. For most of them this was an experience that they would never have had if it wasn’t for the teaching parents that they lived with because they came from broken homes and impoverished backgrounds. This was a long trip because we drove in a fifteen passenger van. Many of the boys had behavior issues so one can imagine how fun it was to all be placed in a van for the long drive out into the desert in New Mexico. For the most part the trip there was uneventful. To get to the site we had to drive on a poorly maintained road in the middle of the desert for what seemed like hours. When we arrived at the site it was getting dark so we had to make camp and eat before going to bed. We were not able to see the ruins yet but the place we camped was beautiful. It was in a valley with large bluffs all around. The next morning we woke up and walked into the site where the remains were. I was surprised at the level of access that we were given. There were park rangers here and there, but for the most part we had complete access to walk and climb all over the ruins. Of course we were careful not to disturb any of the ruins, but it was really interesting to be able to walk in the same places that the indigenous people walked hundreds of years before us. The structures were settled at the bottom of these high cliffs for protection from the elements. They also used the bluffs for rain collection and as lookout spots. We climbed to the top of the bluffs and were able to see the divots that they had carved in the rock to collect rain water. Finally, we toured the museum and learned about the time piece that they created I think called the Sun Dagger. It is thought they used this time piece to determine planting seasons. Overall, a very good experience and I think the boy’s appreciated being able to do something that they ordinarily wouldn’t have done.