As you browse through this Web site, you will find many interesting stories and fascinating people.  The Wetherill family were responsible for the discovery of many cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde , Colorado, the discovery of Rainbow Natural Bridge and were the first to recognize the Basketmaker culture.  They were some of the first explorers of Southwestern Native American Cultures in the Four Corners area.  You will find families of considerable wealth and prestige or those that were contributors to the development of this country.  Several of the allied families arrived with Juan de Onate in New Mexico in 1598.  Many descendants of these families still live in the same communities established during that time.  Descendants of Benjamin Kite Wetherill and Marion Tompkins Wetherill can claim Daniel B. Tompkins as a cousin.  He was Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States under Monroe. Descendants of Marietta Palmer Wetherill can claim Ulysses S. Grant, eighteenth President of the United States as a cousin.

SUGGESTED READING
Reading list is provided so that you may read other information written about the Wetherill family

The Wetherills: Friends of Mesa Verde by Fred Blackburn

Wolfkiller by Louisa Wetherill & Compiled by Harvey Leake

Richard Wetherill: Anasazi  by Frank McNitt

A Difference of Perspective by Harvey Leake 

In Search of the Old Ones by David Roberts 

Through their study of the cliff dwellers and association with their Native American neighbors, the Wetherills developed a value system that was quite different from that of the dominant culture. Harvey Leake contrasts these beliefs in this article entitled "The Wisdom of Nature and why we try so hard to avoid it".

The 2008 Wetherill Mason reunion, Dolores, Colorado