Indian Country

Silver City, New Mexico (AP) 9-08

The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument has been reopened, four days after it was closed because of an eroded roadway.

Monument superintendent Steve Riley says two months of constant light rain caused a sinkhole at the northern approach to the only bridge that allows vehicle access to the monument.

The monument was closed while crews worked to temporarily repair the N.M. 15 roadway leading to the Gila West Fork Bridge, which is a mile from the cliff dwellings.

The work was completed Sept. 3, and the monument was reopened Sept. 4.

The monument – established in 1907, 40 miles north of Silver City – includes the ruins of stone structures built by American Indians between the 1270s and early 1300s.