The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1937-11-05
Nv GEORGE MARSH


~ INCE the days when the Me-
~ Perez chief, Joseph, crossed pres
- emit Wheatland county on his
~ mastery retreat toward Canada
the district has not figured
prominently in newspaper headlines
of interest for nearly everyone. For
the scientist, there is the fossil quarry
south of Harlowton which is visited
every summer by Psychologists from
the great museums. For the artist
there is the collection of original
Russell paintings owned by Wallis
H~uidekoper. For the average tourist
there is the Ice Cave in the Snowy
mountains which has walls and floors
of ice the year around; a forest of
petrified trees 10 miles south of Shaw
NUT; the Dead Mans basin reclama-
ton project, and a host of scenic at
fractions such as Gunsight pass. Ele-
n Haymaker canyon which is one
mile wide and 1,50O feet deep. There
are collections of Indian relics and
antique firearms which have brought
national recognition to their owners.
The tourist who is looking for a new
place to 60" will be amply repaid for
a visit to Wheatland county.
The American Fork ranch, owned
by Wallis Huidekoper, 80 miles south
west of HarloWton is n Of the show
places of. Wheatland county. This
80, GO0-acre ranch was started by Beazy
and Mcdonald but was purchased by
Mr.. Huidekoper in 1906 The ranch
buildings are uniformly painted white
with red roofs and seem to be a small
town in themselves as the visitor de-
sends on the ranch from the higher
mountains: Until recently the ranch
maintained a herd of buffalo. The
largest buffalo head in the world, now
in the Field museum in Chicago, was
taken from an animal raised on this
ranch. Among the original Russell
paintings in the ranch house is the
Thousand" showing an emaciated COW,
which was sent by Mr.. Russell to his
employer as a report or the condition
of the herd.
The Ice cave is located in Green
Ashley canyon II miles northwest Of
Rothiemay. 1t is about 100 feet in
length. A half mile west of the Ice
cave is a much larger cavern known
as the Crystal cave which contains
many stalagmites and stalactites.
OF the many buffalo falls in the
county, perhaps the most accessible
to the tourist is the one four miles
east of HarloWton on the north side
of the main highway. These buffalo
falls were used by Indians who drove
VI Ou11d1O oScl d Cllll Ill UTUeT
to break the animals legs so that they
could be easily killed.
The area south of Harlowton is one
OF the fossil capitals of the world.
From the date of the discovery of the
fossil beds in 1902 by Albert Silberling,
thousands OF specimens have been eX-
cavated and sent to universities and
museums throughout the country. In
1888 Or. Barnum Brown of the Amer
iron hH11coI1r, ~ nf,r~o IY,c&@~x, II,
covered the skeleton of the now famous
bantam ~dinosaur." which was only
IA inches long. The rarity of this
species can best be appreciated by
comparing its size with that of its
huge brothers who often reached a
length of 80 feet.
The technique for removing the
fossils is very difficult. When the
presence of a specimen is suspected
in a formation, the upper layers O.
earth are stripped by teams of horses
pulling scrapers, then picks and shovels
are used as long as possible. When the
specimen is reached, whiSk broomS, and
finally camel's hair brushes, are used
to remove the earth. Some fossils dis
~integrate when the air reaches them
and must be Immediately covered with
shellac. Others require reinforcing at
weak points with plaster of paris bah
dageS." In extreme cases a plaster of
paris cast is poured over the entire
fossil.
In places the footprints of these pre-
historic monsters can be seen in the
rock. In 1908, Albert Silberling, Har-
lowton's amateur paleontologist, dis
covered the tracks of a huge lizard
bearing the formidable name of Am
mobatrachus Montanensis," which
showed the tail drag as well as the
foot prints.
DR.. George Gaylord Simpson of the
American museum says the fossils
there indicate the existence of the
oldest private remains ever found. The
family of primates is the group in
which modern apes and man himself
is found but these primates of 50,000,-
900 years ago. at the very beginning
of the age of mammals, were small
animals, specifically like rats, and
much resembled the lemurs of today.
These small mammals are credited with
the destruction of the dinosaurs be-
cause their food was the eggs of the
large reptiles.
The collection of Indian relics owned
by Mr.. Rene La Brie of Harlowton
has attracted the attention of Dr..
Barnum Brown of the American Mu-
scum of Natural History. The entire
collection is c~atalogued and the smaller