"Ask Katherine" was the most common phrase heard at the Museum of Northern Arizona for more than 50 years. Since 1930, when the new Museum, founded by Dr. Harold C. Colton, had only four employees, Katharine Bartlett has been a driving force in the growth and development of this major Arizona museum. Anthropologist, archaeologist, historian, archivist, librarian, and writer, Miss Bartlett has been a major contributor to the literature on Arizonaís Native Americans, past and present. Through her more than fifty published articles, she has helped to clarify aspects of Arizonaís history long kept in the shadows. Her work on colonial Spanish routes through Arizona was a breakthrough in historic research.

Even though Miss Bartlett has now retired, she has left a legacy of excellence for others to try to equal. Undoubtedly, "ask Katherine" probably still rings through the hallways of the Museum of Northern Arizona.