Mancos

History

The Mancos Valley has been settled since at least the 10th century AD, although various severe conditions in the mid to late 13th century saw the area and its multitude of small villages abandoned by the ancient Pueblo people (Anasazi). The Mancos area is dotted with inventoried and uninventoried archeological sites, including both isolated houses and shelters and small village complexes. Mancos Valley residents were probably among those who withdrew to the cliff dwellings on Mesa Verde, perhaps for defensive purposes, due to climate change, or as part of concentration policy of possible invaders and occupiers of the region. Archaeological sites of the ancient Pueblo period include: * Bement site, a Colorado State Register of Historic Properties site, representing the first and second Pueblo periods. Between AD 750-850 there was one shelter on the site. About 150 years later, a group of six structures were inhabited from 1000 to 1150. * Lost Canyon Archeological District, on the National Register of Historic Places, which may have been the northernmost boundary of the Mesa Verde ancient Pueblo people from about AD 1000–1300. Control of the area was contested by nomadic Navajo and Ute people for centuries. Spanish friars and military passed through the area as part of the Old Spanish Trail connecting New Mexico and California in the 18th century. The name "Mancos" comes from the Domínguez–Escalante expedition of 1776, though the reason for the name remains unclear (see below). By some unverified accounts, the name Mancos refers to the crippled nature of the Spanish explorers' horses after they crossed the San Juan Mountains. According to unverified lore, the horses were rejuvenated by the lush green grass in the Mancos Valley. Somewhere in the town is the point at…

Geography

Mancos is located in eastern Montezuma County. According to the United States Census Bureau, Mancos has a total area of , all of it recorded as land. }}

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Mancos Elementary School
  Elementary · MANCOS · 198 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• Mancos High School
  High · MANCOS · 156 students · 19.5:1 ratio
• Mancos Middle School
  Middle · MANCOS · 114 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• Mancos Early Learning Center
  Other · MANCOS · 41 students · 41:1 ratio