The White House is perhaps the best known Anasazi ruin in Canyon
de Chelly. Its name comes from the white plaster covered walls that are found in the
upper level of the ruin which is nestled on a ledge dwarfed by the massive de Chelly
sandstone. A second set of ruins is found at the base of the cliff. The lower set of
ruins on the canyon floor is one of the earliest in the canyon. A five-story tower
originally existed in the lower ruin, but had collapsed, isolating the higher ledge
ruins. The lower ruins were repeatedly damaged by seasonal flooding of the Rio de
Chelly. In the 1920s, the U.S. Park Service diverted the wash channel, and archeologists
stabilized the lower ruins.
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