Barnum Brown
The original excavation of the Conard Fissure was performed by Barnum Brown who is best known for his discovery of Tyrannosaurus rex. Waldo Conard searched several fissures and crevices on his land in 1903 trying to locate a lead mine that was rumored there. When in April he found bones instead of lead, he forwarded some of the specimens to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). As was common at the time, AMNH sent Barnum Brown to Arkansas to excavate the discovery. The cache of fossils at the Conard Fissure was a breathtaking scientific discovery in its own right, yet Barnum Brown was fresh off his field work in Hell Creek, Montana just the year prior. Therefore the Conard Fissure excavation was somewhat overshadowed by the enormity of the Tyrannosaurus discovery and not published until 1908.