Wallace Ruin (5MT6970) has been identified as a Chaco Great House outlier from the mid 11th through the mid-12th centuries, and it was part of a larger community including three other Great Houses (Haney Ruin East, Haney Ruin West and Ida Jean Ruin) collectively known as the Lakeview Group. Wallace Ruin consists of the Great House and its associated midden but also incorporated at least one 11th century unit pueblo (Greenstone) and a possible reservoir.

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I started researching Wallace (named after the original owners Walt and Wilda Wallace) in 1969 and we bought the property in 1987. The site was listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties on March 12, 2002 and in the National Register of Historic Places on 24 March 2005.    Work at the site has continued off and on for 50 years this summer (2019).  Approximately 40% of the Great House has been or is being excavated (structures with black numbers) and several interim reports and publications are available (click on buttons).

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All excavations have been done with volunteers and a number of academic projects,MA theses and PhD dissertations have used information from the work.

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Research was renewed in earnest in 2018, with an updated site mapping in co-operation with the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.  As of January 2022, Rooms 33, 59, 62, 65a, Structures 67 (staricase), 68 and 66 (Segment 1 of a possible pithouse under the floor of Room 65), Kiva 56, and the area outside Room 17 have been completed.  Work has paused in Room 55 because of dangerous adjacent walls, which will be removed or stabilized before excavations continue.  Excavations are on-going in the plaza area,  Kiva 32 (west elevated kiva), Room 53, Room 69 (below Room 62 south of an early wall) and the corner spaces around Kiva 32.