Frances Canyon

Frances Canyon Ruin is one of the largest known and one of the best preserved of the Navajo pueblitos. Tree-ring dates indicate that construction began in AD 1710 and additions and renovations continued there until 1745. The complex consists of an estimated 40 rooms and includes a three-story tower that overlooks the canyon, storage bins, and hooded Spanish-style fireplaces. Supports for weaving looms were also found. Some of the roofs remain intact. The site was first excavated by Earl Morris, who also excavated Aztec Ruins in 1915. Among other artifacts, he recovered a fragment of a seventeenth-century wheel lock rifle from “Site 6.” Rock art, forked-pole hogans, sweat lodges and basins used for grinding corn surround the pueblito. In 1970 Frances Canyon Ruin was included on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information visit: https://www.blm.gov/visit/defensive-sites-of-dinetah