Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-05

HOW Prof. Marsh Found Several In an An.
cient Lake Bed In Dakota


pR0F. o. g. MARSH OF YALE COLLEGE
u and tho geological survey, who left WASH
ington this week. has had many thrilling ad.
venture incidentally to his hunts for fossils in
the wild west. A choice locality for this sort
of exploration 10 found in the Bad Lands Of
Dakota, where ever 80 long ago there was big
lake. Around the borders Of this sheet of water,
In an ancient epoch, there browsed countless
numbers OF strange beasts, Of species unknown
at the present day save by their bones occa-
sionaily dug up. Some kinds were as big as
elephants and addicted to a vegetable diet ex-
clusively, while there were also to be found in
the same region smaller but extraordinarily
fierce carnivores, which preyed upon their
more bulky but comparatively helpless neigh
bors. There were plenty of smaller beasts, too,
OF ever SO many varieties, all Of them extinct
now among which were surprising marsupials
that brought forth their Young like kanparoos
when the offspring were no bigger than beans,
carrying them thereafter in pockets outside
their bellies until they grew big enough to take
| care Of themselves.
THE TALE OF THIS WONDERFUL LAKE
Is story OF the ages-whole epochs, in fact
which were required for the gradual filling up
OF the lake with mud and detritus While this
process was going on animals of all sorts were
continually dying on the borders OF the big
sheetof water, becoming mired in the surround
ing marshes or drifting into the lake by way of
tributary water courses Their bodies sank to
the bottom and became buried in the mud, so
That, as the latter was added to by fresh layers
year after year and century after century, 1t
| formed a series Of strata through which the
| corpses were scattered like piums in o pud-
| ding.
II the lake bottom ha6 been hard sand the
oeao beasts would have quickly decayed the
bones being scattered about and becoming
eventually disIntegrated But the md an
wrapped them and preserved them more effect
ually than any artificial process of mummificn-
! uon could have DONE 80 far the skeletons
were concerned, though necessarily the fleshy
| tissues became gradually wasted away and dis
appeared.
! AFTER THE LAPSE OF AGES
By and by, after the lapse of ages, the mud in
| the bottom of the lake came to be mile in
depth, filling up what had been the basin con-
| tanning that sheet of water. until the place be-
came dry land. The mud had hardened into
| stone, but the great Colorado and other rivers
| forced channels through the solid rock. leaving
| towering cliffs on this side and that. while the
| mighty streams washed everything away be-
tween. Thus formed by resistless powers of
nature the Bad Lands, as they are called afford
me weirdest desert spectacle to be found any
where in the world.
| 1t is there that the paieontoiogist loves to
roam, cycling the 'fossil-boaring strata" in
! every bluff to see il pcrchance a bone shows
where it has been exposed by the erosion of
the water. He knows that the strengthening
| Nils made once upon time out of lake mud,
are full OF astonishing monsters and other ex-
tinct creatures of the far past if only he could
get at them. II he hits upon find he keeps it
| to himself lest some other fellow should come
along and rob him of it. Not the miser with
hS gold is so chary of giving it away as is the
fossil hunter with information concerning his
| private mines of bones.
PROF. MARsH's FIND.
| One day when Prof Marsh was nosing abou,
the west comparatively noble red man showed
him tooth. 1t was big tooth, but the mere
| size of 1t was not what made the professor
| whiskers cnrl in spite of himself. He recog-
| nized 1t Immediately as the grinder of mighty
mammal new to science. 1t had been once EN-
pioyed for chewing purposes by what has since
come to be known as the brontotherium q
beast as big as an elephant, but shaped some
what like rhinoceros, with two enormous
horns on its head aud flexible snout like Q
| tapir.
THE INDIANS OBJECTED.
| Only tooth! But if it had been a diamond
| equal in size and of the first water Prof Marsh
] would not have valued it SO highly. He lost no
time in organizing party Of frontiersmen who
had been in his employ on previous expedi-
tons and or whom he could implicitly rely.
The place where the big tooth had been found
was q certain locality in the very lake basin
described. Indians were very troublesome
thereabout OF that time. When the Red Cloud
| agency was reached, not far from the objective
point, the whole country was found actually
| alive with thousands of savages. who were
rather disposed to be hostile. Although Prof.
Marsh's object was explained to them they be-
| hsved that 1t was a ruse and that he was going
to dig for gold. Several pow-wows were held.
and, finally, they refused to let the party pro-
coed. Nevertheless. the expedition struck camp
In the night and silently stole away to the bone
| fields. The Indians did not know of its de-
parture until the next morning.
COLLECTING BONES IN SNOW STORM
The party went to work Immediately on their
] arrival at the ground. 1t was so intensely cold
that all hands suffered severely, and it was only
possible to escape freezing by most active ex-
ertion. As fast as fossils were secured they
| were heaped together. piles Of stones being
placed to mark the localities of the bone col
| lections In the event OF a snow storm. Snow
fell deep, but still the professor and his little
! band kept at it. Meanwhile the savages had
mounted sentinels on the neighboring hills
watching the progress of operations One
night some Indians attempted to surprise the
! camp, but their project was defeated. Occa-
sionaly in the day time few Sioux dropped
in. protesting friendly motives, but really to
see what was going on.
Finally. the expedition having packed its
bones, started on its return to the agency Just
in time to escape o raid from a large war party
Of northern Indians, who secured the Bad Lands
the following day in vain hunt for the Bone
hunting Chief and his courageous band. At
the agency the Indians had decided to be
friendly and invited the visitors to a feast, the
menu for which included all the delicacies of
the season, from grassLopper short cake to
fricasseed puppy.
THE RESULTS OF THE EXPEDITION
justified the hardship and the danger incurred
by those who participated in it. Nearly two
tons Of fossils were secured, most Of them rare
specimens illustrating entire families of quad
rupeds, concerning which all that is known has
been ascertained within very few days. One
Of the most notable was the brontotherium al
ready described. 1t had long neck and
doubtless animals Of this species lived together
in herds. cropping the luxuriant tropical vege-
tatIon that grew in their epoch around the
ancient lake. Very likely their remains were
washed into the lake by freshets.
AMONG THE FOSSILS
found were those Of animals nearly allied to
the rhinoceros, the camel and the horse of to-
dayH Some important geological points were
also ascertnined by the expedition. For one
thing it was determined that the ancient lake
was bigger than any two of tho great lakes of
the northwest today put together. 1t stretched
from the southern slope Of the Black Hills,
which formed its northern limit, to near the
northern line of Kansas, and its western mar