Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-08
WYOMING SOIL OElvED
Fossils and implements I'm
earthed by Biologists.
AN AMHERST EXPEDITION
Spanish Diggings" Yield Ancient
Indian Tools.
PREHISTORIC BONES DUG UP
oreodont, oxydactylus, Stenomylus,
Amphicyon and Other Fossils
Are Found.
AN AMHERST EXPEDITION
PREHISTORIC BONES DUG UP

Are Found.
| Among the activities Of Amherst Col
lege during the vacation was the Hitch
cock biological expedition which spent
| twelve weeks of the summer collecting
for the museums.
| The party, consisting of Prof F. B.
| LOOMS, c. K. Blanchard, 'OS; w. j. Par
| malice, co. E. D. Leonard, 90, and r. H.
| Wiltsie, TO- left Amherst last June to
work in some ancient Indian quarries and
| to search for lower miocene fossils in
Wyoming and Nebraska. In the field the
party was joined by Prof. R. S. Lul and
H. Glib of Yale.
The party went directly to Lusk. Wyo.,
| where an outfit, consisting of six horses,
a wagon. buggy, tent. tools. provisions.
etc, was bought. The first field was
! twenty-eight miles southwest of Lusk. In
what are termed the Spanish diggings."
! in reality ancient Indian quarres.
| The quarries. now more or less filled
with heaps of rocks and fragments or
| flint (novaculite), are extensive here. COW
ering two or three acres. over 4;0Oo I'M
PIGMENTS were found, including mallets for
pounding knives, skinning s.ones.
scrapers and feshers for working on
hides. and a host of hoe and pick blades.
! besides numerous tools whose use is not
apparent.
! The identity of the workmen is not
known except that they were not Sioux,
| and the external evidence would indicate
| a people on the ground at least 300 years
| ago.
Fossil Hunting.
| The Amherst party turned its attention
| to the fossils in the sandstone hills of that
locality with good returns.
| On Spanish creek the party found q
nearly complete skeleton of en- oreodont,
| small creature built on the lines of a
| pig, but with the back teeth of a sheep.
| indicating a habit of grinding its food,
which was apparently to a considerable
extent grass. These In fragmentary con-
dition were abundant, so as to indicate
| that they lived in herds on the ancient
plains.
Three other skulls and considerable
quantity of limb bones were collected be-
| fore the party moved eastward onto Raw
Hide creek to continue a similar work
there; but In this camp the feature was
| the change in the creature which predomi-
| mated in the rocks, it being in this case a
long-necked. long-legged member of the
| camel tribe (oxydactylus).
Five oxydactylus specimens were found,
| each having considerable portions of the
| skeleton, two of them being almost COM
| plete. Here, too, the skull of a new pig
came to light. small fellow closely re-
| lated to the big dinohyus.
! About the middle of July the party.
after shipping its fossils. drove some sixty
miles just over the Nebraska line, and
began work along the NiObrara river, near
Agate, Neb. This is a country already
| famous on account of striking finds.
| The search was scarcely begun. when.
coming by the base of bluff, one of the
Amherst party found a spot where the
hillside was literally sown with the bones
of tiny camel (stenOmylus). Tracing up
the hill, it was but little trouble to locate
the level whence the bones came.
| The first work was that Of gathering up
| the fragments before they should be COW
cred or further broken, for all fossil bones
| are too rare to be ruthlessly or carelessly
destroyed In doing this, some sixty of
| one ankle bone (astragalns) were found.
legs. there must have been thirty indi-
viduals represented in that wash material
| alone. and 1t was clear that here was an
other Of natures hidden treasure houses.
Skulls Are Found.
| Excavations were commenced at two
points, one in the middle. the other at the
| south end of the hill. On the first day
| in the latter working six skulls were
| located, SO for 2 time the bulk of the
| work was concentrated there; and day
by day an average of one more skull was
found. until eighteen had been uncovered
the intervening spaces being network
of tangled bopes.
| The whole mass occupied a space of
| about twelve by fifteen feet; and as the
tangie was so thick it was decided to take
up the whole mass, breaking it into
blocks along the natural seams. Then,
to add to the complexity of the mass. a
skeleton of the big wolf-like carnivore,
| amphicyon, was found scattered across
the mass of smaller bones.
While this was going on the other
| working was developed: and there, while
bones were not so abundant. still when
4 they were found there was more or less
Of skeleton present. Thus a beautiful
skeleton, all complete and the bones all
articulated. was found, the skeleton ap-
pearing as If the creature had lain down
| and never been disturbed. Nor is It vet.
| for the whole skeleton and SURROUNDING
matrix were taken up in block. the
skeleton to be mounted as slab. no bone
being disturbed. Besides this two other
skeletons mot however. articulated) and
a couple of skulls were in like manner
| taken up.
Then three of the party drove some
| twenty miles south of camp to work in 4
deposit of sand and gravel representing
| an old river channel. This pocket Of
Pliocene age yielded over 1000 teeth,
| mostly of members of the horse, camel,
rhinoceros, dog, deer and oreodon fam
| lilies.
The seasons plumber being boxed and
hauled to the railroad. the two days Jour-
ney to a suitable town for selling the out
fit being made, the horses, wagons, etc.
were sold. and the party returned to Am
herst few days before the opening of
college.
The material obtained goes into the Am
herst museum, being used especially in
the development of series of evolution
airy groups. The horse series. showing
the changes from the time Of the four
toed type to the modern type, is we'll ad-
vanced. as is also the elephant and rhi-
noceros series. This season advanced the
camel series greatly. and the sets of dog,
cat. deer and pig are well begun These
will find their place In the east wing of
the new museum now under construction.
| Happy Deductions.
| From the Ohio State Journal.
A friend sends us box of Porto Rican
cigars fresh from the sod. a heightened
brand. wrapped in green foil to ward off