This view shows the main ruin under a sandstone alcove at Butler Wash Ruins west of Blanding, Utah.  A nearby interpretive sign reads the following:

Butler Wash Ruins Overlook

The cliff dwellings you see before you were built and occupied by the Anasazi Indians approximately 700 years ago.  This ruin reflects the full range of living activities: habitation, ceremonial, farming, hunting, storage and tool making.  It contains four kivas, underground chambers where ceremonial activities took place.  Three of the kivas are of the round Mesa Verde type most common in this area.  The fourth kiva is a square type more commonly found in ruins to the south in Arizona.  This indicates that the Anasazi here at Butler Wash were dominated by the Mesa Verde culture to the east and influenced less by the Kayenta culture to the south.  Likewise the ceramics found during stabilization indicate a pure Mesa Verde occupation in the mid 1200's AD.

The kivas at this site are located toward the front of the largest cave, while habitation and storage rooms are visible behind them and in various caves and niches around the canyon.

The people who lived here farmed and hunted.  Corn, beans and squash were grown in the deep alluvial soils of the broad canyon to the south.  A cycle of deep arroyo cutting may have made agriculture impossible by lowering the ground water level and making irrigation unfeasible.  The current deep wash is a result of an erosional cycle which started in the 1890's.

Whatever the reason - drought, overuse of natural resources, or warring neighbors - this site was abandoned before 1300 AD.

Although part of the ruins have been stabilized to reduce the ravages of nature and time, the structures will not withstand careless acts by man.  Please do not climb, walk, or lean on the walls.  Don't ruin the ruins!

This archaological site is on public land managed by Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.  Under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, excavation is allowed only by permit.  Removal of artifacts and damage to any site are strictly prohibited and punishable by law.  Rewards are available for information that leads to conviction.