Back Road Adventure

The Track from Solomon to Pueblo Devol Proves a Bone-jarring Lunge into Wilderness

Around 800 years ago, Indians, possibly Anasazi, built apartment houses in the cliffs along Bonita Creek in a remote portion of what now is Graham County. These Indians gathered mud and stones and carried them to alcoves in the mountainsides. Then, stone by stone, they patiently built walls to partition the spaces, left small windows with strategic views of the creek and nearby hills, and covered the tops of the rooms with small branches and brush.

Pueblo Devol, one of the best hidden of these cliff dwellings, is a mere 40 miles from the Graham County Seat at Safford in eastern Arizona. Crossing that 40 miles, however, requires more effort than it takes to drive the 165 miles that separate Safford from Phoenix. On the upside, Pueblo Devol is easily viewed from below - no climbing required. In fact, because cliff dwellings are such fragile resources, don't climb into them. Period.

The back road that leads to this cliff dwelling begins at Solomon, a few miles east of Safford, and provides a steep and bone-jarring roller-coaster route into the heart of the Gila Mountains. Along the way, the rugged jeep track track crosses the bed of Bonita Creek, which almost always contains water, at least twice. With luck a fourwheel-drive vehicle can cover the 40 miles to Pueblo Devol in three hours.

Some words of warning: Under no circumstances should this trip be attempted in a twowheel-drive vehicle. Even if you own a jeep, don't make the drive unless you're experienced in off-road travel, as even a little rain can render the route impassable. Avoid the months of July and August when monsoons are likely and any other time when it's been raining. Check with the Bureau of Land Management's office in Safford, (520) 428-4040, for current information about the route and its condition before planning a trip.

Scary country? Undoubtedly. But that explains why it remains such a remote and breathtaking region, where the opportunity for solitude is limitless. In this terrain, you can indulge the silence of your own thoughts for an hour or a month. You may encounter, as I did, a bald eagle soaring over Bonita Creek, or small herds of mule and whitetailed deer standing warily on open hillsides. But the chances are pretty good you'll not encounter another human being.

In addition to solitude, you'll also find a cliff dwelling that is one of the best-kept secrets in eastern Arizona. The long shadows cast by cliffs above the Bonita watershed today lie like a blanket over an enormous unpopulated landscape known to a handful of archaeologists and to residents in the small farming communities of Graham County. But, for sporadic periods during the last 800 years, these deep canyons were well used, first by Indian farmers who planted in the flats along the stream and, much later, by woodcutters selling fuel to the copper mines that burgeoned in Clifton in the mid-1800s.

Some of those woodcutters and cattlemen undoubtedly knew of the cliff dwellings along the creek, but it was a soldier who provided the first written description. In 1874 Lt. Samuel E. Tillman, Army Corps of Engineers, passed through the area with a survey team and wrote in his journal: "Visited ruins on the East bank of Bonita. A continuous line of houses 200 feet long was found.... We could travel along from house to house without getting outside. The rafters of the roof were still remaining though the covering had fallen in."

No one is certain that Tillman was describing what came to be known as Pueblo Devol, but there are only two other known cliff dwellings along Bonita Creek and both are too small. Pueblo Devol, even though it no longer looks like the continuous room-to-room structure Tillman described, has enough of its original shape remaining to indicate it was probably the site that he recorded.

Until recently archaeologists were unaware of Tillman's notes. They had thought the first visitor was a man named William Stowe Devol, who recorded his stop at the cliff dwelling in 1897, so they named the place for him.

Today the rooms in Pueblo Devol are contained in three separate recesses in the cliffs, roughly 40 feet apart. Heavy rains and wind probably washed away many other walls built into the unstable volcanic substance of which the cliff is formed.

"Pueblo Devol, which may have contained as many as 50 rooms during the height of its occupation, circa A.D. 1330, is the largest of Bonita Creek's three major cliff dwellings," said archaeologist John Welch, who conducted the first scientific study of the site in 1992. "These structures, beautifully preserved fragments of antiquity and treasure troves of information and objects, have long attracted archaeologists, collectors, sightseers, and historic preservationists."

Like the other cliff dwellings in this remote terrain, Pueblo Devol also attracted looters. And yet, says Welch, looters would often leave behind those objects they didn't see as glamorous or valuable such as the small bow or the crudely woven basket that Welch excavated, implements that provide a small glimpse of daily life in a wild place eight centuries ago. All of the artifacts taken from Pueblo Devol by archaeologists will be stored at the Amerind Foundation's research facility near Dragoon.

To see the country where this evocative ruin nestles in a fragile cliff, follow these directions carefully: From the BLM office at 711 14th Ave. in Safford, drive 6.3 miles east to the intersection of State Route 70 and Sanchez Road in Solomon. Sanchez Road, which is paved, takes off on your left (north) just beyond a roadside historical marker.

The remaining directions may seem like hieroglyphics to most people, so keep in mind the advice of Gay Kinkade, one of the BLM archaeologists who accompanied me on my trip: "You've got to keep yourself positioned on the map every (OPPOSITE PAGE) A cholla silhouetted against a sunrise seems to be a lonely sentinel near the ruins of long-abandoned Pueblo Devol. (ABOVE) The dwellings can easily be viewed from below. They're extremely fragile, and it's imperative not to climb into them. Federal law prohibits disturbing archaeological sites.

foot of the way. It doesn't take much to make a wrong turn." He was right. It would be so easy to take a wrong turn.

About 1.5 miles down Sanchezchez Road, stay right at the fork (the left road goes to an airport). The pavement ends 6.4 miles beyond the fork. About 0.1 of a mile beyond the end of the pavement, watch for signs to the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area. The road splits again 1.4 miles after the pavement ends. Bear left and continue 3.8 miles, then

TIPS FOR TRAVELERS

As author Sam Negri warns, "The trip to Pueblo Devol is not for everyone; it's easy to get off track, and negotiating the last few hills is like driving down a flagpole." Be sure to check on road and weather conditions before setting out.All back road travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for the unexpected. Make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape and your gear includes - at minimum - the following: appropriate clothing and footwear, food and water, medication, first-aid kit, sunglasses, water-purification tablets, shovel, maps (topographic and road), compass, tools, spare tire, and tow chain.

Last, don't travel alone and let someone at home know where you're going and when you plan to return. Odometer readings in story may vary by vehicle.

Turn right just after the cattle guard. In another 0.3 of a mile, the road will fork again. Bear right, following the Serna Cabin Picnic Area signs. Turn left 2.7 miles later, and it's "smooth sailing" for the next 7.6 miles to where you bear right at another split. Another 1.3 miles down the road you'll come to a gate. Open and close the gate and drive 1.2 miles to an iron-railed corral. Turn right at the corral. Drive 5.6 miles, turn left, and follow the route 2.6 miles down an extremely steep hill into Bonita Creek.

Park your vehicle on any piece of dry ground you can find and walk upstream about 200 yards. With any luck, you'll be able to make it back up that hill.

Look around and don't rush to leave. Pueblo Devol, one of the most picturesque cliff dwellings in Bonita Creek, is a good place to relax and think about the living habits of the first Americans and to speculate on how the great natural beauty may have had an impact on the residents of 800 years ago. A splendid place to see, hard to get to, and well worth preserving.