Looking back a thousand years ago by looking at South West tree rings between A.D. 1125 and 1180, we see very little rain fell in the region. After 1180, rainfall briefly returned to normal. From 1270 to 1274 there was another long drought, followed by another period of normal rainfall. In 1275, yet another drought began. This one lasted 14 years.
When this cycle of drought began, Anasazi civilization was at its height. Communities were densely populated. Even with good rains, the Anasazi were using their land to its limits. Without rain, it was impossible to grow enough food to support the population. Widespread famine occurred. People left the area in large numbers to join other pueblo peoples to the south and east, abandoning the Chaco Canyon pueblos and, later, the smaller communities that surrounded them.
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fp\b0\i0\fs10Date~29.06.2000; Shot=xxxx.xx.xx; Source=Local:Staff; Time~08:27; Type=Picture;
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fs16\bWUKOKIfs12\b0
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“Wukoki” (Big House) ruins sits alone on a large boulder in the midst of Wapatki National Monument (25 miles north of Flagstaff) it was perhaps the home to three families before being abandoned 1225AD. The structure lay in the crossroads of several regional prehistoric groups, mainly the Kayenta Anasazi and the Sinagua, but groups like the Cohonina (who lived further to the west) and the Winslow Anasazi groups infiltrated this area from their home to the east. Most all groups moved out and abandoned the region around Sunset Crater during the 1064-1066 volcanic eruptions which put the fear of God in everyone living in the area at the time.
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fp\i0\b\fs16Digital Collections/IPTC
fp\b0\i0\fs10Photographer=Pk_Weis;
SOUTHWEST PHOTO JOURNAL 
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