A few years later, the first repair work was done. In 1897, members of the Arizona Antiquarian Association visited Montezuma Castle and, with funds raised by subscription, cleaned up the ruin and performed repairs including the installation of ladders, iron anchor rods, and corrugated iron roofs. On December 8, 1906, by Presidential proclamation, 160 acres were set aside from the public domain to preserve Montezuma Castle as a National Monument. By Presidential proclamation of February 23, 1937, 366 acres were added to the area to give better protection to the monument entrance and to the area in the foreground of the ruin. On April 4, 1947, Montezuma Well was acquired by the Federal Government through purchase from private owners. This last purchase gave the monument a total area of somewhat over 1 square mile. [Illustration: _Montezuma Castle as it looked to early visitors._] [Illustration: _Beaver Creek north of Montezuma Castle._] _The Natural Scene_ The landscape of the Verde Valley is wild, spectacular, and mountainous, dropping from forested mountain ranges and high mesas down to sparsely vegetated desert valleys with ribbons of dense growth bordering the valley streams. Clear desert air projects this rugged scene upon your mind with almost frightening intensity. Towering thunderheads and filmy streaks of high cirrus clouds emphasize the harshly blue skies. Though the desert landscape looks bleak, it nourishes an astonishing variety of plant and animal life. Typical plants of the desert flats and slopes are creosote bush, mesquite, cactus, yucca, and agave. Cottonwood, sycamore, and several species of willow flourish along streams and washes. You can see all of these plants within the monument boundaries—many of them on the nature trail below Montezuma Castle. The monument, situated on the northern limit of the Lower Sonoran plant zone, exhibits other plants more typical of the higher region a few miles to the north where the Upper Sonoran zone begins. Some of these are hackberry, juniper, sumac, and Indian paint brush. The plant collections at Montezuma Castle include 167 species representing 49 families. The wide variety of plants within this relatively small area attracts birds and small animals in their search for food. Undoubtedly these plants were an aid in supplementing the diet of the prehistoric Indians. Many wild plants were and still are used by the Indians of the Southwest for other purposes—basketry and sandal weaving, medicines, and ceremonial uses. [Illustration: _Collared lizards_] In 1948 a preliminary survey was made of the plants in the Montezuma Well section—189 different plants representing 60 families were collected in that area alone. The variety of plantlife for food or other uses, in addition to the amazing water supply, made the Well a very attractive area for Indian settlement.