Richard Wetherill (1858–1910), a member of a Colorado ranching family, was an amateur archaeologist who discovered, researched and excavated sites associated with the Ancient Pueblo People. He is credited with the rediscovery of Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde in Colorado and was responsible for initially selecting the term Anasazi, Navajo for ancient enemies, as the name for these ancient people. He also excavated Kiet Seel ruin, now in Navajo National Monument in northeastern Arizona, and Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Wetherill was fascinated by the ruins and artifacts of the Southwestern United States and made a living as a rancher, guide, excavator of ancient ruins, and trading post operator. He was criticized as a "pot hunter" by his archaeologist competitors, although many of the artifacts he found were sold or donated to prominent museums and his work was often financed or overseen by museums. In 1910, he was murdered in mysterious circumstances by a Navajo in Chaco Canyon. Wetherill's work was important in securing the designation of Mesa Verde as a National Park and Chaco Canyon as a National Monument. Early life and family Richard Wetherill was born June 12, 1858, the oldest of five sons and two daughters of Quaker parents Benjamin Kite (B.K.) Wetherhill and Marion Tompkins, in Chester, Pennsylvania. When Richard was one year old, his family moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1876 the family moved to Joplin, Missouri and three years later to Rico, Colorado. In 1880 the family settled in the valley of the Mancos River in Colorado. In 1882, the family founded the Alamo Ranch, south of the town of Mancos on homesteaded land. By 1895 the family owned of heavily-mortgaged land. Richard Wetherhill married Marietta Palmer on December 12, 1896 in Sacramento, California. The couple had five children: Richard, Elizabeth, Robert, Marion, and Ruth. Mesa Verde The Wetherill family grazed their cattle along the Mancos River south of their ranch. The ancient ruins in the canyon were known to travelers and the Wetherill brothers were enthusiastic seekers of ruins and artifacts. A Ute Indian named Acowitz told Richard Wetherill of a large ruin in Cliff Canyon. On 18 December 1888 Wetherill and his brother in law, Charlie Mason, first saw the Cliff Palace from the top of the mesa. Cliff Palace, named by Wetherill, is the largest cliff dwelling in the United States and had been undisturbed for almost 700