DEC 18: Mesa Verde Landmark Discovered

Cliff Palace is located in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. (Credit: Library of Congress)

On Dec. 18, 1888, Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason, his brother-in-law, discover the Cliff Palace of Mesa Palace of Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado.

Wetherill (1858–1910) was a nineteenth-century rancher and explorer who is often credited with "discovering" some of the most significant Ansectral Pueblo archaeological sites in the Four Corners area, but the sites had already been known for years by Ute, Apache, Navajo, and Pueblo peoples. Wetherill's findings drew the attention of the white public and led to additional expeditions that resulted in creation of collections at both Colorado museums and prestigious East Coast institutions.

Richard Wetherill. (Credit: History Colorado)

Mesa Verde was established as a national park on June 29, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt to protect the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, making it the first national park created specifically to preserve human-made structures. The park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.