The work of some of the diggers was careless and ruthless. They had no consideration for the ruins for their only thought was of the sales value of the artifacts recovered. An indication of this can be seen in the fact that a banker in a nearby town “grub staked” men to dig in the ruins. Supplying them with food and equipment he received a percentage of their profits from the sale of artifacts. The vast wealth of material taken from the ruins was widely scattered and much of it has disappeared. Of all those who excavated in the Mesa Verde during the early years probably only the Wetherill brothers kept records on what they found. Most of their collections were sold to museums and the Wetherills were encouraged by the museums to keep careful notes. These collections, even though they may now be in distant parts of the world, have value because of the records the men kept. In 1889 and 1890, a writer named F. H. Chapin spent several weeks in the Mesa Verde traveling with the Wetherills. The extent of their excavations is indicated by some of the statements in his famous book, “The Land of the Cliff Dwellers.” “Up to March 14, 1890, they had examined in all one hundred and eighty-two houses.... They visited one hundred and six houses in Navaho Canyon alone....” The thoroughness with which the ruins were excavated can be seen by a statement made by Charles Mason in writing about one of their collecting trips. “In spite of the fact that all of the cliff dwellings had been worked two or three times, we succeeded in making a very good showing.” [Illustration: Long House Long House is one of the many ruins in the remote western part of the park. It was once the second largest cliff dwelling in the Mesa Verde. Today little is left for much of it was demolished by the early explorers. Fifteen kivas can be counted but because of the tumbled condition it is impossible to estimate how many rooms it once contained. One early writer who saw Long House in 1890, stated that it was the largest cliff dwelling that had been discovered in this region. Perhaps at that time much more of Long House was standing.] THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC EXCAVATION EXCAVATION AND REPAIR 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.