Wetherill and Mason discover the Mesa Verde ruins
- When
- 1888
- Where
- Mesa Verde
- Episodes
- 1
In December 1888, Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason rediscovered Mesa Verde ruins in southwestern Colorado. The legacy date of 18 December 1888 is supported by passages. The location 'Mesa Verde National Park' is anachronistic as the park was established in 1906; the correct historical location is Colorado.
Episodes
Background and detail
Discovery. On 18 December 1888, Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law Charlie Mason spotted the ruins from the top of the mesa. This event is credited as the rediscovery of Cliff Palace. Wetherill was an amateur archaeologist from a Colorado ranching family. The discovery occurred before the establishment of the national park.
People involved
- Richard Wetherill · Amateur archaeologist
- Charlie Mason · Cowboy
Sources
- Mesa Verde National Park Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-07
- Richard Wetherill Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-29
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.