The period following 1888 is the sad chapter in the history of the Mesa Verde. From the very beginning it was apparent that digging in the ruins was a profitable business. The Wetherills sold their first collection for $3000 and the word spread that artifacts from the ruins had actual cash value. Charles Mason indicated this only too well in his article published in the Denver Post on July 1, 1917. The article was signed by four of the Wetherills and without doubt gives a fairly accurate picture of what happened in the Mesa Verde following the discovery of the ruins. In referring to their second expedition Mason wrote, “This time we went at it in a more business-like manner. Our previous work had been carried out more to satisfy our own curiosity than for any other purpose but this time it was a business proposition.” And in referring to a still later expedition Mason stated, “In spite of the fact that all of the cliff dwellings had been worked over two or three times, we succeeded in making a very good showing.” The Wetherills themselves took a number of collections of artifacts from the cliff dwellings. Most of these collections are now in museums and since the Wetherills kept notes on their findings the material has real scientific value. In 1891, Baron Gustav Nordenskiold, a young Swedish archeologist, excavated in a score of the cliff dwellings and took a splendid collection back to his homeland. Soon after his return home Nordenskiold died and the collection was sold to a museum in Finland, where it rests uneasily today. In addition to the Wetherills and Nordenskiold, many other men worked in the ruins and they probably carried away an equal amount of material. As a result of all this early work the ruins were well cleaned out before the area was made a national park. A number of cliff dwellings have been excavated by archeologists in recent times and little material of any importance has been found in them. Even though the Mesa Verde could only be reached by a thirty mile horseback trip, it was visited by a surprising number of people in those early years. Some came only to see the ruins but many came to dig and on the return trip the packs often bulged with things taken from the ruins. Priceless artifacts which had so long been unmolested were thoughtlessly carried away. As a result of these visits, however, the fame of the Mesa Verde grew and finally public sentiment came to its aid. Gradually there developed a realization that the ruins should be preserved for all time and made accessible to all people.