The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-11
WYOMING FOSSIL FIELDS.
CONTRIBUTING HUGE SPECIMENS
TO AMERICAN MUSEUMS.

Laramie, WyO.-Ihe source of the
scientific zeal which has organized the
expedition now exploring the fossil fields
of this state is the University of WyO-
ming. This institution was established in
1856 under an act of the legislature of
what was then the territory of Wyoming.
In 1890 the Wyoming Agricultural expert
ment station was established al Laramie
under the direc .orship Of Dice McLaren,
with suJ-s'ations at Lander, Saratoga,
Sheridan, Sundance. and Wheatand. Two
years later a comnodious mechanical
building was competed, and in the fall Of
1898 the facilities for horticulture were in
creased by the building of a greenhouse.
In 1891 The normal school was opened, and
in 1892 the course of tho college Of me-
chanical engineering was expanded and the
schools of mines and of military science
were established.
The faculty of fifteen men and women
is marked by personal enthusiasm In The
work. one of the most inspiring OF these
teachers Is Wilbur c. Knight professor OF
geology and mining engineering. Prof.
Knight is a graduate of the University OF
Nebraska and a fellow of the Geological
Society of America. and is a practical min
ing exrert He il is who organized the eX-
petitions which are traversng the noun
tains TO the northwest in search OF fossils
and mineral specimens He occasionally
returns here for supplies and on the last
occasion gave some details concerning the
probable extent and fertility OF the Wyo-
ming fossil fields.
Few people," said he, "have any idea,
as they are whirled over the mountain
ranges. the deep canyons, fertile plains and
great deserts of Wyoming, that they are
in the midst of one of the greatest treas
ure stored regions of the world. one mas
only TO visit our national museum, the
American museum of national history,
Harvard Yale Princeton and the Uni
versity of Wyoming to appreciate fully
what Wyoming has done for science-and
the work has just begun. In another quar-
ter of a century the collections VIII be
doubled, and the material found VIII play
oven a greater part IN upbulding the the
DRY of evolution than it has in the past.
Up to the present time no state or terri
tory i'm The United States, and, indeed, no
equal area in the world, has done so much
for the theory of evolution, and for COM
parative anatomy as this state. These are
broad and sweeping assertions. but they
are nevertheless true, and can be easily
confirmed by any one who will consult the
memoirs and monographs by Leidy, Cope,
Huge Fossils Found.
What are these treasures? They are
the remains of huge reptiles, so large that
only those with vivid imaginations can
form any adequate idea of their size;
huge mammals of elephantine dimensions,
mingled with numerous orders of large
animals that have long been extinct; cam
els, rhinoceroses, dogs, cats, elephants and
monkeys; great sea monsters that were
truly sea serpents; fishes that compare
favorably with the finny tribute of our
great lakes; shell fish almost innumerable,
and fossil leaves that prove conclusiVely
that in early ages Wyoming was densely
clothed with trees of tropical and semi
tropical Verdure.
'The work of collecting from this vast
storehouse began in the forties, and In
the years that have elapsed since Wyom-
ing has been a favored collecting ground
for the leading biologists and palaeontolo-
gists of the country. The early expedi-
tons encountered the treacherous Sioux,
but were not baffled, though they had TO
outfit on the Missouri river and travel
400 miles or more by team before entering
the field. The advent of the Union Pa
cihc Railroad simplifed the work, and
from that day to this not a season has
passed in which there have not been sew
eral expeditions in the Wyoming fields.
''The work of securing these rare speci-
mems is almost as exciting as gold hunt
ing and many times one finds bones that
are worth more than their weight In gold.
While many expeditions have taken away
material by the carload, the fields are
large and hundreds of square miles have
never been visited by biologists On ac-
count of the numerous mountain ranges
the rocks are tilted about our great field,
and erosion has cut deep valleys and can
yons leading from Them which makes 1t
possible to examine every foot OF a lorna
ton in detail. In many places the latter
formations have been deposited in interior
seas, and these have been eroded down
to their base, so that the entire section
is exposed.
"While paleozoic rocks are found flank
ing every mountain range. they are in no
way comparable with the vast beds OF
sediment found along the Appalachian
mountains. These are cambrian, ordovi-
clan, surian and carbonferous, but TAX
en- as whole, they are seldom over 5000
feet thick The fossils they contain are
only partially known, and on comparisons
with similar groups in the East they are
NOT rich in fossil life. Not over 100 species
have been reported from them.
1.-The mesozoic of the West, on the other
hand. corresp ponds in thickness and inn
portance to the paleozic of the East, and
in its maximum development Is nearly
twenty-five thousand feet thick 1t also
covers vast areas along the mountains and
IN the valleys. II stretches half way
across the state, and in one place is over
one hundred miles In breadth These
rocks are made up of three distinct peri
ods-the Triassic. Jurassic and the Creta,
ceous The triassic, or red beds. as they
are usually called, are chiefly bright red
sandstone and gypsum, and vary from
eight hundred to twelve hundred feet in
thickness So far as known, they do not
contain any fossil life
Rich In ReptiIian Remains.
THE jurassic rocks, the second period
are wonderfully rich in reptilian remains,
and contain as well many mammals and
fishes. The University of Wyoming be-
gan collecting the reptillian fossils only
three years ago. and now has partial skel-
etons of over one hundred animals. The
most of these be.ong to the so-called dino
saurs. the largest land animals that ever
lived. and so large in fact that when one
describes them most people consider the
description 10 be a Western yarn with
out foundation. Nevertheless, the scien-
tifc articles published on this subject can
be considered correct.
4nrba TTniveretty of WVoning'a collec-