Chapter IV: Part 3: Guide and Adviser 74 (3)

Scotts Bluff National Monument is 8 kilometers (5 miles) southwest of Scottsbluff, Nebraska. This massive rock promontory rises 245 meters (800 feet) above the valley floor, and it served as a landmark to Indians, fur traders, and settlers traveling the Oregon Trail. It was named for a fur trapper, Hiram Scott, and has remained a symbol of the great overland migrations. The park is open all year. Mailing address: P.O. Box 27, Gering, NE 69341.

Wind Cave National Park is 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of Hot Springs in southwest South Dakota. Two worlds meet here: the underground world of the cave and the life of the surface prairie. The cave gets its name from the wind blowing into or out of the cave. Mailing address: RR 1, Box 190, Hot Springs, SD 57747.

Not So Nearby National Parks

By expanding your travel perimeter even farther beyond Agate Fossil Beds, you can take in these other National Park System sites.

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area straddles the Montana-Wyoming border, 67 kilometers (42 miles) from Hardin, Montana, and at Lovell, Wyoming. Access to boat ramps and campgrounds is from both ends of the long reservoir. Yellowtail Dam tours are given from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The visitor centers are open all year. Mailing address: P.O. Box 458, Fort Smith, Montana 59035.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is 24 kilometers (15 miles) south of Hardin, Montana. Here on June 25, 1876, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and five 7th Cavalry companies attacked and were surrounded and killed by Indians. Mailing address: P.O. Box 39, Crow Agency, MT 59022.

Rocky Mountain National Park is northwest of Denver and about 3 kilometers (2 miles) west of the community of Estes Park, Colorado. The park is one of America’s most accessible mountainous areas. Trail Ridge, which crosses the Continental Divide, offers breathtaking views. Elk, mule deer, bear, cougar, and bighorn sheep roam mountain crags, meadows, and valleys. Mailing address: Estes Park, CO 80517.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is on Interstate 94 at Medora, North Dakota. A separate unit is 90 kilometers (56 miles) north on U.S. 85. In these magnificantly colored badlands along the Little Missouri River Roosevelt had an open-range ranch and developed his practical conservation philosophy. Both units have campgrounds. Mailing address: P.O. Box 7, Medora, ND 58645.

Armchair Explorations

Some Books You May Want to Read

Bartlett, Richard A., _Great Surveys of the American West_, University
of Oklahoma Press, 1962.

Camp, Charles L., _Earth Song: A Prologue to History_, American West
Publishing Co., 1970.

Colbert, Edwin H., _Evolution of the Vertebrates_, John Wiley and
Sons, Inc., 1969.

Cook, Harold J., _Tales of the 04 Ranch_, University of Nebraska
Press, 1968.

Cook, James H., _Fifty Years on the Old Frontier_, University of
Oklahoma Press, 1980.

Gould, Stephen Jay, _Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural
History_, W. W. Norton and Co., 1977.

Howard, Robert West, _The Dawn-seekers_, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1975.

Johnson, Kirk R. and Richard K. Stucky, _Prehistoric Journey: A
History of Life on Earth_, Roberts Rinehart, 1995.

Lanham, Url, _The Bone Hunters_, Columbia University Press, 1973.

Laporte, Léo F., _Evolution and the Fossil Record_, W. H. Freeman Co.,
1978.

Larson, Robert W., _Red Cloud: Warrior-Statesman of the Lakota Sioux_,
University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.

Mason, Stephen F., _A History of the Sciences_, Collier Books, 1970.

Meade, Dorothy Cook, _Heart Bags & Handshakes: The Story of the Cook
Collection_, National Woodlands Pub. Co., 1994.

Osborn, Henry F., _Cope: Master Naturalist_, Princeton University
Press, 1931.

Paul, R. Eli, _Autobiography of Red Cloud: War Leader of the Oglalas_,
Montana Historical Society Press, 1997.

Plate, Robert, _The Dinosaur Hunters: Othniel C. Marsh and Edward D.
Cope_, McKay Co., 1964.

Raup, David M. and Steven M. Stanley, _Principles of Paleontology_, W.
H. Freeman Co., 1978.

Romer, Alfred Sherwood, _Vertebrate Paleontology_, University of
Chicago Press, 1966.

Schuchert, Charles and Clara Mae LeVene, _O.C. Marsh: Pioneer in
Paleontology_, Yale University Press, 1940.

Index

_Numbers in italics refer to photographs, illustrations, charts, or
maps._

A
_Aepinacodon_ _54-55_, 60
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument 11, 14, 50;
animals at, _20-22_, 24-34, _84_;
birding at, 81, _82-83_, 85;
established, 17, 78;
geology of 23, 47-52;
museum specimen of, 38, _86-87_;
topography of, 7;
visitor information 77-80
Agate Springs Ranch 7, 10, 17;
excavations at, 38, _39_; fossils from, _40-41_, 86-87
Alligator _54-55_, 60
American Museum of Natural History 14, 38, 52, 87
_Aplodontia_ 32

B
Badlands National Park, South Dakota _88_, 90
Barbour, Erwin H. 11, 14, 38
Big Badlands, South Dakota 49, 52
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Montana-Wyoming 92
Bittern, American _83_
Blackbird, red-winged _82_
Bone Cabin, Wyoming 48
Breeding Bird Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 81, _82-83_, 85
Buteos (buzzard hawks) 28

C
Cambrian period _46_
Camels. _See_ _Oxydactylus_, _Stenomylus_
Camping 78
Carboniferous period _46_
Carnegie Hill _12-13_, 14, 37, 77
Carnegie Museum 14, 38, 39, _40-41_, 69, 87, 88
Carnivores, small 32-34
Cenozoic Era _46_, 47, 49, 52
Chalicotheres. _See_ _Moropus_
Cheyenne River 52
Cleveland, Utah 48
Colorado Plateau 49
Como Bluff, Wyoming 48
Cook, Eleanor Barbour 14
Cook, Harold 10, 14, 17, 52
Cook, James H. _6_, 8, 10-11, 14, 77;
buys Agate Springs Ranch, 7, 10;
discovers fossils, 11, 24, 38
Cook, Kate Graham 10-11, 14
Cook, Margaret Crozier 17
Cook Museum of Natural History 17
Cope, Edward Drinker _9_, 11, 14
Coyote _84_
Cretaceous period _46_
Curlew, long-billed _82_
Cuvier, Georges 42, _43_, 45
Custer Battlefield National Monument. _See_ _Little Bighorn
Battlefield National Monument_

D
_Daemonelix_ 33, _69_, 70, 86
_Daphoenodon_ _20-21_, 22, 32, 38
Darwin, Charles 43, _44_, 45
Devil’s Corkscrew _76_
Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming _90_
Devonian period _46_
_Diceratherium_ 24. _See also_ _Menoceras_
_Dinohyus_ _20-21_, 22, 30, 87
Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado and Utah 42, 48, _88_
Drought 35, 36, 50-51

E
Ecology 53, 61-73
_Entelodon_ 30
Entelodont 30
Eocene epoch 25, 27, 29, 31, _46_, 49, 53, 63, 88
_Equus_ 63
Excavations 38, _39_

F
Field Museum of Natural History 87
Flora 7, 10, 53, _54-59_, 60, 71-73
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Colorado 53, 88, _89_
Folsom, New Mexico 14;
spearpoint, 17
Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Wyoming _90_
Fort Robinson State Park, Nebraska 50, 77
Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming 89
Fossils _38-41_, 47, 86-89

G
Geological Museum, University of Wyoming 86
Geology 35, _46_, 47-52
Geese, Canada _82_
Gerenuk 29
Gering Formation 50
Gopher, pocket _84_
Graham, Elisha B. 10
Graham, Mary 10-11
Grasslands 26, 35, 51, 61, 71-72
_Gregorymys_ 33
Guan 28

H
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho 89
Harrison Formation 23, 50, 63
Hawk _56-57_, 60;
marsh _83_;
nighthawk _83_;
Swainson’s _81_
Horses 62-63, _66-67_. _See also_ _Merychippus_, _Miohippus_,
_Parahippus_, _Protohippus_
Hutton, James 45

J
Jackrabbit _84_
Jefferson, Thomas 42
Jewel Cave National Monument, South Dakota 91
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon 89
Jurassic period _46_

K
Killdeer _83_

L
Laboratory _40-41_
Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste de _43_
Laramide Revolution 49
Linnaeus, Carolus _43_
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument 92
Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus) 42
Lyell, Charles 42, 43, _45_

M
Map _78_, _79_
Marsh, Othniel C. _8_, _9_, 11
Marsland Formation 50, 51
Matthew, W. D. 52
McJunkin, George 14
Meadowlark, western _83_
_Meniscomys_ 32-33
_Menoceras_ 14, _20-21_, _22_, _24_, 25, 36, 38, 51, 86, 87
_Merychippus_ 52, _58-59_, 60, 62-63
_Merychyus_ _20-21_, 22
Mesozoic era _46_, 47-49
Miocene epoch _46_, 49-52, 71-73;
animals of 20-37, 62, 63, _64-69_, 70;
birds of 28
_Miohippus_ 25-26, 27, 64, _66-67_
Mississippi Embayment 35, 49
Monroe Creek Formation 50
Morrison, Colorado 48
_Moropus_ _20-21_, 22, _29-30_, 86-87
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota _91_
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University 87
Museum of Geology, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 86
Museums, fossils at _86-87_. _See also_ _American Museum of
Natural History_, _Carnegie Museum_

N
_Nanotragulus_ 27-28
National Park Service 17, 88-92
Nighthawk _83_
_Nimravus_ 32
Niobrara River 7, _16_, 23-24, 36, 37, 50, _54-55_, _60_
North Platte River 52
_Nothocyon_ 32, 33

O
Oglala Sioux Indians 7, 11. _See also_ _Red Cloud_
_Oligobunis_ 32
Oligocene epoch 25, 31, _46_, 49, 50, 52, 53, 70, 88;
animals of 61, 63
Opossum _54-55_, 60
Ordovician period _46_
_Oreodon_ 25, _54-55_, 60, 63
Osborn, Henry F. 14, 38
Owl, great horned _83_
_Oxydactylus_ _20-21_, 22, 28, _56-57_, 60

P
_Palaeocastor_ 14, _20-21_, 22, _33_, 64, _68-69_, 70-71, 77, 86
_Palaeolagus_ 34
Paleocene epoch _46_, 53
Paleozoic era _46_, 47-48
_Parahippus_ _20-21_, 22, _27_, _56-57_, 60, 62, 67
Permian period _46_
Peterson, O. A. 14, 38, 39
Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona _89_
Pigs 30-31
Pine Ridge, South Dakota 52
Pleistocene epoch 28-29, _46_, _64_, 67
Pliocene epoch 24-25, 27, _46_, 52, 63
_Portheus_ 48
Precambrian era _46_
_Promerycochoerus_ _20-21_, 22, 25, 87
Pronghorn (artiodactyls) 63, _84_. _See also_ _Syndyoceras_
_Protoceras_ 31
_Protohippus_ 62, 63
_Pseudaelurus_ 32, _58-59_, 60

Q
Quaternary period _46_

R
Red Cloud 9, 11
Rhinoceros 24-25, 50, 51, 63
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado 92
Rocky Mountain Revolution 51, 52
Runningwater Formation 51
Rodents 32-34

S
Sandpiper, upland _14_
Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska 49, _91_
Sheep Creek Formation 52
Silurian period _46_
Smiley Canyon, Nebraska 50
Snake, hognose _84_
_Stenomylus_ 14, _20-21_, 22, _29_, 37, _39_, 50, _64-65_, 86, 87;
_hitchcocki_, 51
Sundance Formation 48
_Syndyoceras_ _20-21_, 22, _31_
_Synthetoceras_ 31-32

T
Teeth, high-crowned 62-63
_Temnocyon_ 32
Tertiary period _46_, 53
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota 92
Thompson, Albert 14, 38
Toadstool Park, Nebraska 49
Tortoise 33-34
Trailside Museum, Nebraska 86
Triassic period _46_

U
Uniformitarianism 42, 43, 45
University Hill 7, _12-13_, 35;
digging at, 14;
formation of 37;
tourist facilities at, 77
University of Nebraska State Museum 86

V
Visitor information 77-80, 86-92
Von Linne, Karl _43_

W
Wallace, Alfred _45_
White River 52;
Badlands 31;
Beds 49
Wildflowers 7, 10
Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota 91
Wren, house _82_;
long-billed marsh _82_

★GPO: 1999—454-765/00504
Reprint 1999

National Park Service

The National Park Service expresses its appreciation to all those persons who made the preparation and production of this handbook possible. The Service also gratefully acknowledges the financial support given this handbook project by the Oregon Trail Museum Association, a nonprofit group that assists interpretive efforts at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.

Texts

James R. and Laurie J. Macdonald, authors of “A Landscape Rich With Life” in Part 2, are paleontologists who live in Sunnyvale, California, and teach nearby.

Doris B. Gates, writer of “Birding Along the Niobrara” in Part 3, is a retired biology professor who lives in Chadron, Nebraska.

Maps

R.R. Donnelly & Sons Co. 79.

Illustrations

Jay H. Matternes, who painted the wildlife panoramas and animal
features on the cover and in Part 2, is a paleontological
reconstruction artist who lives in Fairfax, Virginia. In Part
2 his illustrations appear on pages 20-21, 24, 25, 27-33,
54-59, 64-69.
American Museum of Natural History 9 Cope.
Greg Beaumont 14, 81-84.
Carnegie Museum 38-41.
Library of Congress 43-45.
James O. Milmoe 12-13, 15, 16, 76.
Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University 8.
All other illustrations are from the files of Agate Fossil Beds
National Monument and the National Park Service.

U.S. Department of the Interior

The mission of the Department of the Interior is to protect and provide access to our Nation’s natural and cultural heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to tribes. The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

Agate Fossil Beds

_Through the remains of animals long extinct, excavated here at
this site, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument tells the story of
the Miocene Epoch—the Age of Mammals—that occurred 5 to 23 million
years ago. The scene on the front cover is from a mural by artist
Jay H. Matternes that depicts animals of the Early Miocene._

Transcriber’s Notes

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.

—Relocated all image captions to be immediately under the corresponding
images, removing redundant references like “preceding page”.

—Silently corrected a few palpable typos.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.

—Conjecturally restored one subsection of the index entry for “Agate
Springs Ranch”