Party’s on for Mesa Verde By Electa Draper, Denver Post Staff Writer

The park’s birthday bash reaches a climax Thursday – 100 years to the day since Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt made Mesa Verde the nation’s first national park dedicated to preserving man-made wonders. …

On Thursday, the birthday party begins with a barbecue dinner at Morefield Amphitheater followed by a special ceremony featuring the premiere of the Mesa Verde Suite, composed by Sterling Proctor.

Crew members of the U.S.S. Mesa Verde are scheduled to attend events on the landlocked mesa 8,400 feet above sea level. And live music, refreshments, craft demonstrations, quilt shows, plays, stagecoach rides, tours and other special events continue Saturday and Sunday.

Ranger-guided backcountry tours of two cliff dwellings, Mug House and Oak Tree House, not seen by the public for decades, are sold out.

[mjh: I recommend the full article because it has much more to say about Mesa Verde.]