Spruce Tree House was one of the cliff dwellings excavated by the first
archeologist to work in the Mesa Verde. In 1891, less than three years
after the discovery, the Swedish archeologist, Baron Gustav
Nordenskiold, was excavating in the cliff dwellings.
Nordenskiold, a member of the Swedish nobility, had read of the Mesa
Verde ruins and had decided to excavate some of them. In July 1891, he
arrived at the Wetherill ranch and hired John Wetherill as his guide and
foreman. Three more men were hired as laborers and for four months the
group excavated in the cliff dwellings.
Spruce Tree House bears Nordenskiold’s inscription, “Number 1 House.”
Cliff Palace bears the inscription, “No. 2,” and in all, twenty-two
ruins bear numbers left by Nordenskiold.
The archeological specimens recovered by Nordenskiold were taken to
Sweden but at the present time are in the National Museum, in Helsinki,
Finland. In the collection, as cataloged today, are about 600 specimens.
While it is a good collection it does not deserve the fabulous
reputation it has acquired. Although Nordenskiold reached the Mesa Verde
in 1891, the finest things had already been taken out by the cowboys.
His collection contained a number of outstanding specimens but in its
entirety did not compare with the collections taken out by the cowboys
themselves.
[Illustration: Spruce Tree House
Spruce Tree House was the second large cliff dwelling discovered by the
cowboys. Richard Wetherill saw it from the canyon rim on the same day
that he and Charles Mason found Cliff Palace. His view on that wintry
day of December 18, 1888, probably was much like this.]