The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1908-10-09
FOUND FOSSILS OF
MANY VARIETIES
Story of the Amherst College
Expedition.
EDWARD LEONARD A MEMBER

! hfa,'ieboro Boy and Three Others A,
eompanied Prof. LOOMS 10 Plains q
Wyoming and Nebraska - Man
Skeletons Of Animals Unearthed.
The fourth and most successful annuu
iossil hunting expedition Of Amherst co
less has Jn.l returned iron a trp 10 III
PLAINS Of Wyoming and Nebraska. IN
/ Parry collected during the summer. ia III
rough, over i've tons vi iossilifeTous ma
leilal, including between 500 aud 400
Indian relics, a full skeleton oi an EXITING
siecies Of camel, parts Of a skeleton Of .
huge fhlnoeeFos, the Jaws Of prehlslori,
a"s' and over thousand teeth aud olhel
bones 81 the pfogcniiors of the horse
dog, camel, cats, deer beaver, pecoau
etc, The material vail all b. CAREFUL,
classified and set up. with that found oi
the previous tflps, IN room ~ feet
square, 10 lie arranged for the purpose ~
the new biological building, now in III,
preuss Of erection, This collection !.
very rapidly increasing ia value. The
cash market price. in the rough. oi the
addition made this year i considerably
over 5000, but few Of the individual
/ fNNthH AlN WITH IT'S lfiNfl ell y EHkl
camel skull II worth nearly 500; a fhi.
noccros, 500 10 $50. The complete skel.
eton Of the new species of the camel ~
good as the one found on this trip would
easily sell for several thousand dollars.
ms collection, together with the inyalu.
able collection OF fossil footprints OF the
huge reptiles that formerly inhabited
the Connecticut valley, gathered over 80
years ago, aud given up To the college by
President Edward Hitchcock. gives Am.
hent the enviable reputation OF having
one Of the best archaeological museums
Of any college in the country. The col.
lection will be more than trcbled in val.
ne when IL Is scientifically arranged, and
the series OF exchanges with other muse.
ums in this country and Europe. Asia aud
Africa is completed whereby duplicate
specimens are traded for Others needed TO
fill up gaps.
The expedition was named the Hitch
cock biological expedition in honor of the
s0th birth year of DIR. Edward Hitchcock.
the dean OF the faculty, who has always
taken special interest in this line of work.
The money TO pay the expenses Of the
trip was raised by subscription among
the alumni Those composing the party
were Prof. Frederick b. LOOMS OF the
biological department and four students,
{. X. Blanchard, 1905, OF Quincy; w. j.
Parmalee, 1909, of Springfield Edward
Leonard 1909, OF Brattleboro, VT, and
X. III. Wiltsee, 1910, of Syracuse. y. y.
Prof. LOOMS has conducted all the pre-.
vious trips, and prior to that he spent |
three seasons fossil. hunting in this sec
ion with party from the American |
museum of natural history of New York. |
w. j. Parmalee was also a member OF |
-. H. "a. a
June II and went directly to Lusk, Wy, |
where they were joined by Prof. h. S.
.ull, formerly of the Massachusetts, Agri-
cultural college, now of Yale university,
md his assistant, Mr. Glib. They were
separate party, working, however, from
he same base. At Lnsk they bought
heir outfit, composed of six horses, wag-
ms, buggy, four saddles, tents and pro.
sions enough for two weeks. They al
ways planned to keep that amount of
PROVISIONS ahead in order to be independ-
mt of the ranchmen, but they had, how
yer. to rely on their goodwill for water
rivileges. The cook that they engaged
id not show up at the appointed time,
0 his place was filled by Mr.. Wiltsee,
Tho, Judging from the good physical con
ition of the men on their return, proved
ute accomplished in this capacity
They began operations at an old Indian
int quarry about % miles southwest of =,
usk, which was found by the Amherst
lrty last year. This quarry undoubtedly !,
rived for many generations during the ,
one age as tool.manufacturing plant !
II tribes of a large area of territory. !.
hey spent two weeks there, and found :
,out 5000 relies, but preserved only be- ;
yeen 200 and 5000 of the finer grade !.
,plements, including hoes, knives and !,
her sharp instruments. Prof. Loomis J,
inks that these people were related to =
me southern tribe of today. The pre- +
nderance of hoe heads and other agri- !,
ltural tools indicate that they were, ~
aceful, soiltiling people, and mo-, the {,
cestors of the warlike red Indians. y,
nherst now has by far the fullest col y
ton of these relics of any museum \
the country, with which Prof LOOMS y
pes to be able to arrive at fairly h,
finite conclusion as to the position ~
csc tribes occupied among the prehis. =, =,
lie American races. After they had -,
thered enough of these relics, without y
wing camp, they began work at Muddy g.
eek hunting for fossils. There they ~ ~
md whole skeleton of an oredont i;
erychus), an animal which was slml;, al al
to the present sheep, but with a head T.,
teeth like that of the pig, and 10 or W. W,
incomplete skeletons They then mov- '"
about 25 miles east to Raw Hide creek, ri;
north of the Raw Hide buttes, which e r
the food plain of an old river OF the l.
,er Miocene period. fl
here are many indications that this a
lent river was subject to tremendous ST.
IDS and herds of animals, seeking ref DIT
on some island, would frequently be dr.
wned in huddle 1t is now region ne
,ulches and bluffs, with but little veg me
lion to protect the soil, Thus, during fire
occasional very heavy showers, the so,
ANS frequently washed away a good til
of the large banks, thereby drawing sey
curtain and revealing to curious men far
,edies to animal life that happened apl
/ a million years ago. the
mong the valuable specimens found in
e was one nearly complete and eight ing
nine incomplete skeletons OF an an ess
t species of the camel. OX,ydaetylus,, the
etimes called "giraffe-camel." 1t had far
!, long legs and neck, and in life stood hay
or nine feet high, although it prob ear
= Weighed not over $50 or 300 pounds. dee
Y also found a highly-prized skeleton wit
dwarf pig, that probably never in
he'd weight of much over, 100 qua
,ds The pig family originated in the
me not less than 100000 years ago por
nee i spread over the world pretty poil
rally, one line reaching North Amer the
h', nav of a land connection where to
no strait is now. These. developed f
IN America until in the Miocene, the as
= sn,oli n;o and giant contemporary rou
ohns',Sl renresenting the last of that the
o ,,,sr na Nv some unknown cause exter- fror
ted The present domestic pigs were ing
,rted. con con
July 10 Ine &C ptha Niobrara river in com
to- the rs nsau u th ,. Years AGO James It il
'aska. Inert .tnnt;on Of the Carnegie be