My questions this week are rather simple. Who discovered Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde? Who made pack trips into Mesa Verde, and do any of them have any tie to me?
In the fall of 1882, Alfred Wetherill saw some cliff ruins down Mancos Canyon. Although there is some controversy, it appears Alfred was also the one who discovered Cliff Palace late in 1887. Along with his brothers, Alfred spent years discovering ruins at Mesa Verde and bringing back all kinds of artifacts.
The father of the Wetherill brothers was Benjamin Kite Wetherill. He and his wife were devout Quakers and were neat and methodical in everything they did. Mrs. Wetherill taught Sunday school at the Methodist Church for some time, but most of her attention was devoted to keeping a clean and orderly home and garden. Benjamin followed suit in his fields and expected the same from his sons.
Benjamin's sons spent more and more time at Mesa Verde and providing pack trips into Mesa Verde for tourists. The farm suffered from their lack of attention to it. To the east of the farm Benjamin had homesteaded 160 acres of mostly pinion and cedar trees with some large pines scattered throughout the acreage. Benjamin passed away in November 1898 and that 160 acres soon went to the county for lack of payment of taxes. Years went by before the Spencers bought that acreage and cut down all of the pines and made lumber out of them. Having no more interest in that acreage, the Spencers let it revert once again to the county. In the early 1930s, the county owned that acreage. Much to the chagrin of his parents, my father purchased that 160 acres for $1 an acre. My tie-in with the Wetherills is that I own a quarter mineral interest in that acreage.
Benjamin Wetherill was the only Wetherill to die in the Mancos Valley. Alfred and his family left the valley with only the clothes on their backs and a few personal articles.
A man less known but who ran a successful livery and backpacking trips into Mesa Verde was Charles Kelly. He built the first cabin on Mesa Verde to house his tourists. He became the chief ranger at Mesa Verde after it became a national park. Charlie married a school teacher by the name of Jennie Miller in 1891 and they had a son named Ira. As the years went by Charlie's livery business quietly became an auto repair and sales garage, which he and his son Ira managed for some years. Having passed his successes on to his son, Charlie passed away in June 1927.
Darrel Ellis is a longtime historian of the Mancos Valley. Email him at dnrls@q.com.