The larger ruins of the Mesa Verde were discovered in 1888, and for
eighteen years they were without protection. Anyone who wished to could
excavate in them and since there was a ready sale for the artifacts a
large number of men engaged in commercial excavation. The ruins suffered
greatly during this period for there was no realization that the area
would ever be accessible to the general public.
In 1906, through the efforts of interested people, a portion of the mesa
was set aside as Mesa Verde National Park and since that time the ruins
have been protected. A superintendent and the first rangers reached the
new park in 1907, and the period of commercial excavation came to an
end.
At that time there was no road and the park could be reached only by a
ride of thirty miles on horseback. In spite of this, visitors began to
come and it soon became apparent that in time there would be heavy
visitation. Equally apparent was the fact that the ruins were in no
condition to receive visitors. Weakened by centuries of neglect and
further weakened by the careless work of the early explorers many of the
ruins were in poor condition. They could not long survive the impact of
the thousands of visitors who would begin to arrive as soon as the first
road was built. The answer to this problem was excavation and repair of
ruins that were to be visited by the public.
In 1908, Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, of the Smithsonian Institution, excavated
Spruce Tree House and the picture below shows the ruin as it looks
today. First the ruin was cleaned out. When the work began, the courts,
passageways, and ground floor rooms were filled, sometimes to a depth of
several feet, with fallen stones, caved roofs and trash. As this debris
was removed, only a few articles of value were found for the early
excavators had been thorough in their work. The repair work consisted
simply of strengthening the weak sections so there would be no further
deterioration. Crumbling foundations were strengthened; leaning walls
were braced; cracks were filled with adobe mortar. In all the work there
was no thought of restoration for too much modern work would destroy the
spirit of the ancient ruin.
In his report on the work in Spruce Tree House, Dr. Fewkes stated, “The
intention of the author has not been the reconstruction but the repair
of Spruce Tree House. Walls in danger of falling, especially those that
have suffered a thrust from the perpendicular, have been so treated as
to prevent their falling. No radical reconstruction of the rooms has
been attempted; the walls have not been built up, but the skylines
remain practically as they were before the excavations were begun.”
[Illustration: Spruce Tree House
The view of Spruce Tree House shows the ruin after excavation. In 1908,
the debris was cleaned out and necessary repairs were made. At the time
of excavation, Dr. Fewkes counted eight kivas and 114 rooms. He
estimated, however, that it had once contained at least 140 rooms. Large
sections of the ruin still stand at their original height and several
rooms have their original roofs.]