Not too far from Doc's, we visited the Gila Cliff Dwellings. These were built by the Mogollon people during the height of a long drought between 1275 and 1300. It's thought by some that the drought was so severe that the Gila River quit flowing during this time, and the spring fed stream on which the cliff dwellings are built was one of the few sources of water in the area. The dwellings may have been used for ceremonial purposes. At any rate, they were inhabited for only a brief time, perhaps only one generation.
Sometime after the Mogollon people left the Apache moved in. Geronimo claimed the Gila headwaters as his birthplace.
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