Cortez Town History

Cortez, in the center of the Montezuma Valley, is the second largest community on the San Juan Skyway. It is the only surviving community never served by a railroad and it is the only town not located along a river. Cortez boasts a historic engineering achievement of its own; if it wasn't on a river it would bring a river to it.

Modern settlement of the Montezuma Valley began in the 1870s and a small community grew up around the only permanent water source, Mitchell Springs, south of Cortez. The fertile soils of the valley attracted hopeful farm families, but the lack of water hindered profitable farming. The Dolores River Valley to the north is nearly 1,000 feet higher than the adjacent Montezuma Valley. The solution to drought would be to drill a tunnel between the two valleys and divert Dolores River water onto the parched farms on the lower slopes of the Montezuma Valley.

The original Montezuma Water Company was organized in 1885. The townsite of Cortez was laid out in 1886 by investors in the water company. The new town was high and dry. Water hauled from Mitchell Springs cost as much as 50 cents a barrel.

Work began on the tunnel in 1887 along with a network of canals to deliver water to the farms. Water from the Dolores River reached Cortez on July 4,1890. The people of Mitchell Springs moved into Cortez. The irrigation system continued to expand. An additional canal was constructed from the Dolores River and flumes, one more than a mile long, were built to carry water across the many canyons that crease the valley slopes. By 1955 the system, now owned by the Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company, included the tunnel, two reservoirs, 25 canals and laterals more than 175 miles in length. McPhee Reservoir was completed in the 1980s and thousands more acres of farmland received irrigation water.

Today Cortez is known as the "Archaeological Center of the United States", for the many nearby ruins which are open to the public and where innovative archaeological research continues into the future. Within an hour's drive of Cortez are Mesa Verde National Park, Hovenweep National Monument, the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Escalante Ruin and the Anasazi Heritage Center, Lowry Ruin, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park. The Tribal Park, 18 miles (28.8 km) south of Cortez, is unique because visitors are taken to excellently preserved cliff dwellings by knowledgeable Ute Mountain Ute Indian guides. Visitors learn about Ute cultures as well as ancient Puebloan cultures.

Cortez is the gateway to modern Native American cultures as well. Ute Mountain Ute Tribal headquarters are at Towaoc, twelve miles south of town. In addition to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park, visitors are attracted to Towaoc by its new casino. Just south and west of the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation is the vast Navajo Nation in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

-Text and Photos, Courtesy of A Historical Touring Guide to the San Juan Skyway