Montezuma County, Colorado

Montezuma County Education, Geography, and History

Montezuma County is the southwestern most of the 64 counties in the state of Colorado. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 25,535. The county seat is Cortez.  Montezuma County was created on April 16, 1889 from La Plata County. The county is named in honor of Aztec leader Moctezuma II.

Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Yucca House National Monument, and Hovenweep National Monument preserve hundreds of ancient Amerindian structures, including the famous cliff-dwellings, found in the county. Montezuma County is also home to most of the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation, home of the Weeminuche Band of the Ute Nation, known as the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, with its headquarters at Towaoc.

Etymology - Origin of Montezuma County Name

Montezuma County is named in honor of Moctezuma II, the famous Aztec leader at the time of Spain's conquest of the Aztec Empire. Local ruins were originally thought to have been of Aztec origin.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Montezuma County History

Montezuma County was created in 1889 from part of La Plata County.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,040 square miles (5,284 km²), of which, 2,037 square miles (5,275 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (9 km²) of it (0.16%) is water.

Montezuma County is located in southwest  Colorado. The area ranges from high the Colorado Plateau desert to alpine tundra.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• North: Dolores County
• Northeast: San Juan County
• East: La Plata County
• Southeast: San Juan County, N.M.
• Southwest: Apache County, Ariz.
• Northwest: San Juan County, Utah

Education

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