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Passed by a Fortune of Scientific Information

By: LC200 staff

When President Jefferson penned his instructions for the Expedition to Captain Lewis, one of the lesser known points was under the heading “Other objects worthy of notice will be.” Jefferson asked Lewis to note the “animals of the country generally and especially those not known in the U.S.” then he asked for “the remains and accounting of any which may be deemed rare or extinct .” What Jefferson was asking Lewis to do was try and find living mammoths or mastodons such as the bones which of had been discovered at the Big Bone Lick in Kentucky.

This was a rather unusual request or instruction since few people had any knowledge of fossils at that time. Jefferson was one of only a handful of thinkers that even took up the subject. According to author Daniel Boorstein, Jefferson believed that nature was created complete and did not accept the idea that animals can and do become extinct. He also knew that traditional Indian beliefs said that mammoths still existed in north and west parts of America. Jefferson got into a controversy with Comte de Buffon, an eminent naturalist, over the Comte’s statement that animal life in America was inferior to life forms in Europe. To fully prove his response to Buffon Jefferson wanted to find one of these living mammoths so they could be measured and described. Thus the mammoths of Europe and America could be compared scientifically. He knew the mammoths were large in America, but he didn’t know they were being compared to their smaller kin the mastodon that once roamed Europe.

Jefferson was a very complex individual because he was so absorbed by so many intellectual disciplines. What grew to be paleontology was just one of his passions; being an avid reader and a logical thinker he soon became a leading figure in this division of science. To show the scientific world’s respect for him one of the three subspecies of mammoth is named in his honor. So Captains Lewis and Clark set off on their exploration trip with instructions to find a mammoth in the great, unknown west. The scientific world Jefferson was a part of, was wrapped up in controversy over mammoths. Jefferson intended to put an end to the controversy. Today we know that mammoths and their smaller relative mastodons became extinct about 10,000 years ago.

Captain Clark came the closest to fulfilling Jefferson’s instruction to record, and presumably bring with them, remains of rare or extinct animals. While exploring the lower Yellowstone River just below Pompey’s Pillar Clark found a “fossilized rib” in the cliff of the river. It measured three inches in circumference and three feet long, although it was broken off. This was undoubtedly a dinosaur bone. We don’t know what became of that fossil. But we do know that Clark passed by an area of Montana that is very rich in dinosaur fossils. In fact the Expedition passed several area that today are hotbeds of dinosaur discoveries. While Jefferson was thinking about mammoths the treasure waiting to be found was dinosaurs.

Today there are six museums in Montana that devote substantial space to dinosaurs that have been unearthed in the state. Additionally there are five major dinosaur fields where sizeable amounts of fossil have been excavated. Four of these lie close to where the Expedition passed.

A state park at Glendive, Makoshika State Park, is a badlands area of several thousand acres. Within that park there is a wealth of dinosaur fossils. Ten different species have been found there, the most common of which are triceratops, edmontosaurus, and tyrannosaurus rex. A very rare dinosaur, thescelosaurus was found there in 1996; it is the only full skeleton of one ever found. Captain Clark passed literally with a few feet of this area in 1806.

Another recent dinosaur hotbed the Expedition passed close to is call Hell Creek; this area is south of the Missouri River and present day Fort Peck Lake. Paleontologists there are on the third year of a five year dig and have so far found 65 triceratops, three edmontosaurus, five ornithomimus and six tyrannosaurus rex. The t-rex that was found this year is the biggest one ever found. There have only been 16 of these ever found. Another very exciting scientific discovery made here is the presence of a very distinct layer of iridium. This cosmic element was laid down 65 million years ago where a large meteorite collided with the earth. The presence of iridium lends support to the theory of mass extinction of dinosaurs.

Moving north across the Missouri River there is another dinosaur field that is providing astonishing treasures. Several nearly complete dinosaur skeletons have been found there in previous years, but this year was very special. Previous dinosaurs found here and in the dinosaur fields mentioned above were from the period of 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs became extinct. The find that is creating excitement this year is from 77 million years ago. The brachylophosaurus unearthed has its skin and fleshy parts still intact down to the pads on its three toed foot. Less that one tenth of one percent of all dinosaur fossils ever found have any skin remaining on them.

One of the most famous dinosaur fields in Montana is known as Egg Mountain. This field was the site of enormous numbers of fossil discoveries. It even lead to a new species of dinosaur being named and a major change in theory on dinosaur lifestyle. These new dinosaurs were shown to care for their young; a total departure for reptiles or birds.

President Jefferson sent his Expedition out to find living mammoths to support his philosophy that the theory of extinction is wrong. Captain Clark came the closest to fulfilling that instruction when he found a dinosaur bone. Just like the Jeffersonian concept of symmetrical geography and a single mountain chain on the west coast was proven wrong, this Jeffersonian concept of extinction has been proven wrong in the territory he wanted to use to prove it correct.

Montana History
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Thinking Geography: How the Decision at the Marias Was Made
“Jefferson and the Gun-Men” by M.R. Montgomery
Finding Lewis & Clark Campsites
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