Richard Wetherill : Anasazi / Frank McNitt ; with maps and drawings by the author

This resource includes black and white illustrative plates depicting period photographs of Richard Wetherill in his professional and personal life, including pictures of several excavation sites he worked on. It also includes scans of original letters which contain field notes from his excavations.

This text includes period maps of the relevant Southwest region of his excavations, including Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 353-357) and index.

I -- One. Mesa Verde, as it appeared to the first white explorers venturing across the southwestern tip of Colorado. the boyhood of Richard Wetherill. first settlers in the green valley. the Wetherills homestead their Alamo ranch at Mancos, and learn about hostilities with the Utes. -- Two. Discover of Cliff Palace, Richard and his brothers find more great cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde and sell their first collection to the Denver historical society. Baron Nodenskiold visits Alamo ranch, stays to excavate some of the major cliff houses. he acquaints Richard with the rudiments of archeology. Alamo ranch attracts a swarm of visitors, among them Julia and Ben Cowing of Brooklyn, N.Y. -- Three. An episode which contributed to a belief that Richard Wetherill was a cattle rustler. the case of a Mancos Lothario named Byron McGeoch. -- Four. The Chicago fair. Richard meets the Hyde brothers. The Hyde exploring expedition is formed. Bluff City, Utah, and plans for the HEE's first trip. Grand Gulch. Richard discovers a new type of prehistoric Indians and Talbot Hyde names them "basket makers." Sniders "well," a mass burial in a painted kiva. -- Five. The Alamo ranch falls into debt and Richard appeals to Talbot Hyde for a loan. Richard's winter trip into the remote wilderness of Tsegi canyon. discovery of Kiet Siel. -- Six. Dr. T Michell Prudden visits Alamo ranch . With Bert Cowing and editor Muldoon Kelley, the doctor joins Richard and Clayton Wetherill for a pack trip to the Hopi country. snake dance at Walpi. old Oraibi. the return journey by way of Keam's Canyon. George Washington, a young Navajo, becomes their guide. they find shelter in the hogan of George's parents. Muldoon Kelley eats watermelons. --

II -- Seven. The musical Palmer family arrives by "band wagon" at Alamo ranch. young Mariette Pamer is not impressed favorably by Richard. the Palmers camp near Sandal house. Richard agrees to take them to Chaco canyon. Pueblo Bonito. Richard's excitement when he realizes he has found a vast, many dwellinged center of a vanished civilization. they visit Sante Fe. Richard and Talbot Hyde exchange letters, planning their next summer's work. with Richard as a guide, the "band wagon" circles southward into Arizona. crossing the flooded San Juan. Richard asks Marietta to be his wife. the parting at Monticello, Utah. -- Eight. Historical and archeological background of Chaco canyon. early explorers: Carravahal and Hosta. expedition of John M. Washington in 1849. observations of Lieutenant Simpson. William Henry Jackson's trip in 1877. first traces of human life: the basket makers. evolution of Chaco architecture, from pithouse to great pueblo. the classic period: 1000 to 1150 a.d. development of the great kiva. causes of the gradual abandonment of the Chaco. -- Nine. The Hyde expedition undertakes the excavation of Pueblo Bonito. George H. Pepper as field director. Trenching the Bonito's refuse mounds. discovery of small burial sites. a cache of pottery and two burial rooms are found. friction between Richard and Pepper, Marietta Palmer and Richard Wetherill are married at Sacramento and return to Alamo ranch. plans for a second great gulch expedition. -- Ten. The grand gulch expedition of 1897, lead by Richard Wetherill and financed by C. E. Whitmore and George Bowles. bitter weather. the expedition divides into three parties. indians kidnap Whitmore and Bowles. Talbot Hyde agrees to buy the collection representing the winter's work. Richard writes, "I am horribly in debt through my efforts to help all." -- Eleven. The second year's work at Pueblo Bonito. Navajo workmen give Richard the nickname "Anasazi." the HEE is pressed by creditors. August heat sends Marietta to the Mancos valley. Pepper departs for the snake dance at Walpi. acquisitive habits of the Navajo, and how Richard deals with them. the jeweled frog. relations between Richard and Pepper become more strained. -- Twelve. Richard conceives the idea of a trading post at Pueblo Bonito. their first son is born to Richard and Marietta. Richard's debts mount. he leaves Mancos in the spring of 1898 to build a new home in Chaco canyon. the trading post is moved to the Wetherill's house. Marietta takes care of the expanding business. to discourage interlopers, Richard plans to homestead on land embracing Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl and Pueblo del Arroyo. death of Benjamin Wetherill. -- Thirteen. Excavation of Pueblo Bonito enters the fourth season. trade with the Navajos continues to grow, but entails problems. a Navajo fiesta. Frederick Ward Putnam visits Bonito. objections are raised to the work of the HEE amid cries of "vandalism." Max Pracht investigates and reports. efforts for another investigation are made. Washington orders work on Pueblo Bonito to cease. -- Fourteen. The Hyde exploring expedition launches into the Indian trading business on a national scale. Farmington, NM becomes the Western center of this enterprise. shootings and barroom brawls. John Wade's harrowing experience while freighting from Thoreau to Pueblo Bonito. Richard views the skyrocketing operations of the HEE with optimism and concern. -- Fifteen. The Holsinger investigation. Richard's motives for homesteading are misinterpreted. the new manager of HEE works quietly to sever Richard and the Hyde brothers. the assets of the HEE are sold. Richard fights to retain his home in Chaco canyon while relinquishing claim to the great ruins. -- Sixteen. The St. Louis fair, 1904. alone and without money in s strange city, Marietta is befriended by a policeman. Richard encounters some old acquaintances. Fred Hyde remains loyal. Chaco canyon is seen in times square. --

III -- Seventeen. The triangle bar triangle ranch. Joe Schmedding hires on are a cowboy and closely observes the boss. arrival of Bill Finn. ranch hands Fred Palmer, Gus Thompson, Lee Ivy and "Black" Phillips. the crotchets of uncle Clayton. -- Eighteen. Ranch life at Bonito. Fred Hyde. passing the sheepherders in a midnight brawl. Des-pah's encounter with a rattlesnake. Marietta sets up a small medical practice to treat injuries, accidental and otherwise. the Wetherill children and a case of smallpox. prof. Richard E. Dodge and Ales Hrdlicka visit. a Texas widow and her children are given shelter. an epidemic of diphtheria sweeps the country. the case of Hostine George and his family. a Navajo boy is adopted informally. -- Nineteen. Four lawsuits plague Richard Wetherill. the Harrison Hill case, which involved a rare Navajo blanket. Tootle, Wheeler & Motter Co. brings suit. claim is entered by a Durango attorney. payment is asked on two old notes. -- Twenty. Storm clouds gather over the triangle bar triangle ranch. William T. Shelton reports on Richard Wetherill to the Indian commissioner. agent Samuel F. Stacher brings his family to Bonito. Richard's affairs are investigated. Eleanor Quick comes to Bonito as a schoolteacher and remains as an alarmed observer. sheriff Talle arrives with cattle. Des-glena-spah warns Marietta of impending trouble. -- Twenty-one. The encounter between Chis-chilling-begay and Richard Wetherill. old Welo's gunstock is broken. the ambush and shooting at Rincon del Camino. -- Twenty-two. Sheriff Talle rides to Thoreau for help. preparation for an Indian attack. justice of the peace Fay leads a posse from Farmington to Pueblo Bonito. findings of the coroner's jury. a simple burial ceremony. five Navajos and Bill Finn are arrested. dr. Prudden and John Wetherill are notified. Navajos in the vicinity of the Wetherill ranch are given orders. the activities of Chis-chilling-begay before and after the shooting. -- Twenty-three. Shelton takes command of the defense. Bill Finn's testimony. Chis-chilling-begay is charged with murder and held for trial. Finn is fined for assault and battery. Shelton talks to a reporter. Stacher's report of the shooting. Finn is tried on a second charge of assault. Shelton swears out new complaints. three of the seven Indians accursed are held. Finn belatedly brings suit against Nez-begay. dr. Prudden observes the proceedings with growing indignation. -- Twenty-four. Dr. Prudden calls upon the commissioner of Indian affairs for an investigation. an inquiry is conducted by maj. James McLaughlin. Marietta files suit against Stacher and the case comes to trial. -- Twenty-five. The trial of Chis-chilling-begay. the jury returns a verdict. the question of whom the Navajo intended to kill finds an answer. --

Appendix A: The story of the discovery and early exploration of the cliff houses at the Mesa Verde / [Written by Charles C. Mason, with the approval of the Wetherill brothers. originally owned by the State Historical Society, Denver, Colorado.] --

Appendix B / [Two years after he and Charlie Mason found cliff palace, Richard Wetherill wrote to prof. Frederic Ward Putnam, director of the Peabody museum, Harvard University, seeking to interest him in the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, and inviting him to visit Mancos. the original copy of this letter is in the files of the Peabody museum.] --

Appendix C / [The following depiction of basket maker remains found in the Grand Gulch region, appeared in the collectors' department of The Archeologist magazine, May issue, 1894. the article is unsigned but most probably written by Richard after his winter 1893-1994 expedition.] --

Appendix D / [Richard Wetherill wrote a series of articles for the Mancos times during his long trip with the Palmer family in 1895-96. the following, printed March 20, 1896, is one of them, and describes Montezuma's castle in Arizona.] --

Appendix E / [In the May, 1897, issue of The Antiquarian, editor J.F. Snyder wrote that two friends who some years previously had visited Mesa Verde with Richard Wetherill as guide, had given him a collection of objects taken from one of the cliff dwellings. among these objects was a flat implement of sandstone shaped carefully in the form of a sandal. at first, Snyder wrote, he could not determine what it was, later discovered it was a sandal last. this brought the following letter from Richard, printed in the September issue.] --

Appendix F: Chaco Burials --

Appendix G / [Richard Wetherill's sincere affection for Julia Cowing followed closely and perhaps as a reaction to a one-sided, frustrating attachment he formed for Marcia Lorraine Billings, a Denver girl whose brother Wirt later joined Richard at the first great gulch expedition. this I learned in 1963 from Mrs. William M. Tanner, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who describes Marcia, her aunt, as "a vivacious person, while gold-red hair and very blue eyes - a flirt." Marcia and a younger sister, Anna Elizabeth, had gone from Denver to see relatives in Durango in the summer of 1890, and there were persuaded, because the town was "buzzing with talk about the old cliff dwellings that Dick Wetherill had discovered in Mesa Verde," to visit the Wetherill ranch and Mancos. Mrs. Tanner has allowed me to use four letters Richard subsequently wrote to Marcia, and also gave her permission to quote from an unpublished manuscript relating the experiences of that summer as later told to her by her mother. From the latter, the following excepts are taken.].

"Anasazi, the Navajos' name for the "Ancient Ones" who preceded them into the Southwest, is the nickname of Richard Wetherill, who devoted his life to a search for remains of these vanished peoples. He discovered the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde and Kiet Siel and the Basket Maker sites at Grand Gulch, Utah, and at Chaco Canyon he initiated the excavation of Pueblo Bonito, the largest prehistoric ruin in the United States. His discoveries are among the most important ever made by an American archaeologist." -- From the book jacket