Filled with a desire to tell others of their surprising discoveries they
returned to the Wetherill ranch and spread the news of the great ruins
they had found. Immediately John Wetherill decided to visit Cliff
Palace. With three other men he set out and only four days after the
discovery the men entered the ruin and began to excavate.
Near the south end of the ruin a kiva was in perfect condition except
that the roof was missing. Stretching a piece of canvas over it the men
moved in and for three weeks the ancient ceremonial room served as
living quarters as they excavated the great cliff dwelling. This was the
beginning of serious excavation by the cowboys. The discovery of the
large ruins made them feel that the recovery of articles left behind by
the Indians might be a profitable business. As Charles Mason stated
later in referring to one of their expeditions, “This time we went at it
in a more business-like manner. Our previous work had been carried out
more to satisfy our own curiosity than for any other purpose but this
time it was a business proposition.”
On this first expedition the men kept no record of what they found. In
later years two things stood out in John Wetherill’s memory. Throughout
the ruin they found a profusion of baskets and in the low room in the
rear of the cave they found fourteen mummies.
[Illustration: Square Tower House
The third large ruin discovered by Richard Wetherill and Charles Mason
was Square Tower House. The tower which gave the ruin its name is the
tallest structure in the Mesa Verde, one wall measuring thirty-three
feet in height. In this ruin, of seven kivas and about seventy rooms,
two of the kivas have remarkably well preserved roofs.]