Kinishiba Ruins

By: Steven Bain, Social Studies Teacher and RHO Kappa Advisor

The American Continent

Allow me to take you back in time to an Arizona untouched and uninfluenced by European civilizations. A time when there were no roads, no cities, no suburbs, and no modern conveniences. The year is 1350 A.D., Europe was in the Dark ages and experiencing the first decade of the Black Plague. China was under Mongol rule of the Yuan dynasty. The Rus people were battling with the Mongolian Khans for control of territory that would later be called Russia. Many Mongols were converting to Islam and their hold on the Middle East was in decline, and the Delhi Sultanate was slowly being whittled away by regional conflicts in India. Meanwhile, the America’s were developing in isolation, protected from foreign influence by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Societies made up of the descendants of the Clovis People were scattered across North and South America. In North America, people spoke over 30 different languages unique to the continent.

Pre-Columbian Groups

Three groups: the Ancestral Pueblo, Mogollon, and Hohokam people inhabited what is now New Mexico and Arizona. It is accepted by most historians that these people migrated into the area in response to drought and other climate stressors they experienced in areas to the North. They adapted to this region by utilizing farming technology and animal domestication. Communal plaza villages formed near water sources and were surrounded with crops of corn, squash, and beans. These early communities later evolved into the Modern Apache, Navajo, Yaqui, Pueblo, Zuni, and Hopi Tribes. Evidence of one of these early Mogollon communities lies 160 miles Northeast of Gilbert, AZ. on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, just West of Fort Apache. I had the opportunity to visit this historical site, called Kinishba Ruins, over fall break to gain insight into the lives of Arizona’s Pre-Columbian Societies.

Arizona’s Diverse Scenery

The 160-mile trip to Kinishba Ruins is beautiful and gives one insight into the diversity of landscapes in Arizona. Traveling the Route 60 Eastbound from Gilbert the scenery begins to change from the harsh desert of the East valley to a more green and hilly landscape near Globe and Miami. Then there is a steady climb into the mountainous area of the Salt River Canyon. During the decent into the canyon, you will see a sharp drop to the river below. If you find a place to stop with binoculars you can see the remains of a mangled, rusted car wreck that was never retrieved from the sheer cliffs. I couldn’t help but hope the people in the car had made it out ok

At the bottom of the canyon, we crossed the bridge over the Salt River. Below was a deluge of opaque, red clay colored torrent caused by the recent rains. It was rare to see the river so high and running so swiftly. On the upside of the canyon there was a sign that said “White Mountain Apache Reservation” letting us know we were now under tribal authority. At the top of the climb out, there is a scenic pull out that I recommend any passerby to stop at. From that spot, at the top of the southeast rim of the canyon, the vastness is dizzying, and the call of the void is strong. After snapping some pictures, we traveled the last forty miles of the trip, driving until we came to a minimum maintenance road. The ruins lie nine miles away from the main road to Fort Apache, but the route is riddled with potholes, washboard, and dips, so it took about a half hour of bouncing to arrive at our destination. My family and I were relieved when we finally arrived gates to the historic site.

Kinishina Ruins

Once inside the gates, the crumbled remains of large structures rose up from the acres of snake grass, and sage brush. The walls have taken on a red hue from the red clay adobe used as mortar between cut limestone bricks. These ruins were once inhabited by Ancestral Puebloan people during the Mogollon Period (1200-1400 A.D.). This was the time when people in America first began to dwell in above ground structure and marks the use of some of the first ceremonial Kiva buildings. Kivas are round structures used for spiritual and religious ceremonies and some are still used by contemporary Puebloan people. Excavation and study of this historical treasure began in 1931 by a University of Arizona professor, then was abandoned in the early 1950s, then left to the White Mountain Apache tribe to oversee its protection and preservation. The Kinishba ruins grew at different times as more tribal members migrated to the area. This is evidenced by separate clusters of structures of different ages. It is thought that the oldest Puebloan ethnicities occupied the center of the community and then allowed newcomers to settle on the outskirts. At its height the community may have supported 1000-1500 people, who subsisted on agriculture and were subject to the weather and other natural forces. The structures were abandoned around 1400 A.D. The real reasons for the disappearance of people and the failure of the community are unknown. Some Zuni legends tell that the ancestors were told to leave the area by spirits, while scientists speculate crop failures may have caused the exodus. Whatever the reason was, the ruins stand empty today as a reminder of Arizona’s distant past and offer insight into the lives of some of its first settlers. Due to their spiritual beliefs, most Apache’s stay away from the area out of fear that spirits of the dead may follow them home, but if you want to learn more about Arizona’s first inhabitants and are brave enough to contend with the ghosts of the past, I recommend you add Kinishba ruins to your bucket list.