It is equally certain that Charles Mason and Richard Wetherill were in Cliff Palace in 1888, for they announced their discovery immediately. The account which has been given here has come directly from written records left by Charles Mason and John Wetherill, and from personal interviews with the two men. In 1935, Mason visited the Mesa Verde for the last time. In spite of his 74 years he was active and alert and the events of the early days were clear in his mind. We drove along the canyon rims and without hesitation he pointed out the cliff from which he and Richard Wetherill had first seen Cliff Palace. For an hour we sat in the sun as he recalled the events of that day, December 18, 1888, when he and Richard had sat there on their horses, gazing in amazement at the great ruin. “We had heard of Cliff Palace before we saw it,” he said. “A Ute Indian, named Acowitz, had told us about it and we had always hoped to find it. The Utes were afraid of the ruins because of the spirits of the old people that they believed were in them. If we wanted to keep the Utes out of our camp we just put a skull up on a stick and they wouldn’t come near.” Remembering the problems they had with their cattle, he added, “Hunting cattle in those days was no easy job. They were as wild as deer and the country was rough. Once we spent a week chasing them and all we got back to town was an old cow and her calf. We shot lots of them like deer and packed the meat out.” In 1932, John Wetherill visited the Mesa Verde. As we strolled through Cliff Palace he told of the month he and his three friends had spent there in 1888-89. He pointed out the kiva where they had lived, the spot where the beautiful stone axe had been found and the place where they had discovered the fourteen mummies. He recalled that all of the roofs had been torn out, just as Charles Mason said, and he remembered that they had found more baskets in Cliff Palace than in any other cliff dwelling. Then, pointing across the canyon, he said, “That’s where Richard and Charley were when they first saw Cliff Palace.” The bold cliff at which he pointed is called Sun Point today, and it was from this same point that Mason said he and Richard Wetherill first saw Cliff Palace. It is quite true that other men have claimed they were in Cliff Palace before 1888. Not a shred of documentary evidence has been found to support these claims, however, so credit for being the first modern men to enter the greatest of all cliff dwellings goes to Charles Mason and Richard Wetherill. During the years that followed the discovery of Cliff Palace, the Wetherills and other men discovered hundreds of cliff dwellings in the canyons of the Mesa Verde. They found, also, that the mesa tops were dotted with additional hundreds of ruins. As a result of these discoveries the fame of the Mesa Verde spread and within a short time many men were digging in the ruins.