1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,160 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: show that digs deep into the past, one day at 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,959 Speaker 1: a time. I'm Gabe Luzier, and today we're exploring the 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: most renowned dinosaur graveyard in North America. The day was 6 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: October fourth, nineteen fifteen. President Woodrow Wilson established the Dinosaur 7 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,840 Speaker 1: National Monument to protect one of the world's richest known 8 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:49,840 Speaker 1: fossil beds. Located on the border between Colorado and Utah, 9 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: the site that would become known as the Carnegie Quarry 10 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: was first excavated in nineteen oh nine by paleontologist Earl Douglas. 11 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: Over the next several years, he and his team found 12 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: thousands of fossilized dinosaur bones embedded in the Rocky Cliffs, 13 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: and when word of their discovery reached President Wilson, he 14 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: took steps to place the entire area under federal protection. Today, 15 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:19,400 Speaker 1: the Illustrious Dinosaur Quarry is operated by the National Park 16 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 1: Service and is now considered one of the most notable 17 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: paleontological finds in modern history. At the turn of the 18 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: twentieth century, America's natural history museums were engaged in a 19 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: great dinosaur rush, competing to acquire and assemble the best 20 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: dinosaur specimens they could find. Public interest in the prehistoric 21 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:43,399 Speaker 1: animals was at an all time high, and a collection 22 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,040 Speaker 1: of intact skeletons was a surefire way to pack an 23 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: exhibition hall. With that in mind, the Carnegie Museum in 24 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: Pittsburgh dispatched its own resident fossil hunter, Earl Douglas, on 25 00:01:55,520 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: a scouting mission in northeastern Utah. After several weeks of 26 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: fruitless searching, Douglas and his team finally hit pay dirt 27 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: while exploring a small section of the Morrison Rock Formation 28 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: in Jensen, Utah. The Morrison Formation, named for a town 29 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: in Colorado, is a long chain of sedimentary rocks deposited 30 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: during the Jurassic Period, roughly one hundred and fifty million 31 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: years ago. The team's initial discovery of a few well 32 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: preserved bones was quickly followed by another and another, leading 33 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 1: Douglas to declare the site quote the best looking dinosaur 34 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: prospect I have ever found. He wound up spending about 35 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: fifteen years digging at that one site, eventually uncovering thousands 36 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: of fossilized bones. More than three hundred and fifty tons 37 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: of them. Many of those specimens were excavated and shipped 38 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: back to the Carnegie Museum for display. But unlike most 39 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: fossil hounds of the era, Douglas didn't remove everything that 40 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: he found. He explained why in a letter to the 41 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 1: Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, writing quote, I hope that 42 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: the government, for the benefit of science and the people, 43 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: will uncover a large area, leave the bones and skeletons 44 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,639 Speaker 1: in relief, and house them. It would make one of 45 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: the most astounding and instructive sites imaginable. It took some time, 46 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: but Douglas's vision was ultimately realized. On October fourth, nineteen fifteen, 47 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,639 Speaker 1: the dig site and the surrounding eighty acres were proclaimed 48 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: a National monument. Then, in nineteen thirty eight, President Franklin D. 49 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: Roosevelt expanded the park by another two hundred thousand acres. 50 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: The most striking feature of the Dinosaur National Monument is 51 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: the so called quarry Wall, a rock layer containing an 52 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: especially rich deposit of dinosaur bones. The fossils embedded in 53 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: the wall have been partially exposed, but allowed to remain 54 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: in place for easy viewing. Just as Douglas had hoped. 55 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: The quarry wall is well protected too, as it actually 56 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: forms one of the walls of a glass building called 57 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: the Quarry Visitor Center. Since nineteen fifty eight, millions of 58 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: visitors have watched on site paleontologists carefully chip away at 59 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: that ancient rock face. The result of that combined labor 60 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 1: is a truly unique exhibit featuring more than fifteen hundred 61 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: fossilized dinosaur bones. The remains of about a dozen different 62 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: species are lodged in that sandstone quarry wall, representing more 63 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: than half of all the kinds of dinosaurs that lived 64 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Most of 65 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: the bones in the quarry belong to gigantic herbivores, including 66 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: the Stegosaurus, the apatosaurus, and the Diplodocus, but the fearsome 67 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: Allosaurus is there as well to hold things down for 68 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: the meat eaters. By now, you're probably wondering how so 69 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: many bones from so many different species ended up embedded 70 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: in the same small area. The answer is that the 71 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: region well listen always the arid desert it is today. 72 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: One hundred and fifty million years ago, a large river 73 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: flowed right through the canyon and The dinosaurs that lived 74 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: alongside it sometimes died near the river's edge. Then, during 75 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: the rainy seasons, the river would flood, washing some of 76 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 1: their carcasses downstream. Many of the remains were then lodged 77 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: on a sandbar, where ancient sediments gradually cast them in stone. 78 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: The result was a jumble of more than five hundred 79 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: fossilized dinosaurs, a naturally occurring mass grave, and a dream 80 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: come true for paleontologists. Of course, the quarry area is 81 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: only a fraction of the land included within the national monument. 82 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:46,040 Speaker 1: The bulk of the vast park is rugged backcountry, including 83 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: sweeping canyons carved by the Green and Yampa Rivers. Plenty 84 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 1: of other fossils and formations have been found there besides 85 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: dinosaur bones, including the remains of a variety of plants, amphibians, 86 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: and mammals. There were vital cultural resources preserved there as well, 87 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 1: including abundant rock art such as petroglyphs and pictographs attributed 88 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: to the Fremont people. They lived in the area approximately 89 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: a thousand years ago, and some of their descendants still 90 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 1: do today. The Dinosaur National Monument clearly has no shortage 91 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: of natural and cultural wonders for visitors to explore, and 92 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:25,840 Speaker 1: thanks to the work of Earl Douglas and a few 93 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: fossil hungry museums, all of that history has been lovingly 94 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: preserved for this generation and those to come. I'm Gay 95 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little more about 96 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. You can learn even 97 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 98 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have any 99 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: feedback you'd like to share, feel free to drop me 100 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 1: alive by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. 101 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Maze for producing the show, and thanks 102 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 103 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History class.