August 2009 - Friends of the State Museum

The Mammoth
A Newsletter for the Friends of the University of Nebraska State Museum
AUGUST 2009
Hubbard Rhino Barn
Dedicated
U n i ve rs i t y o f
NEBRASKA
S T A T E
M U S E U M
June 19, 2009, marked the beginning of a new era at the Ashfall Fossil Beds with the dedication of the
completed Hubbard Rhino Barn. This huge building (eight times larger than the original Rhino Barn) protects
a substantial portion of the fossil site. The hundreds of Ashfall supporters in attendance at the dedication
ceremony were in awe at the size of the new Barn and were thrilled at the prospect of the dozens of seasons
of excavation to come. The excitement of the crowd was palpable as it realized the potential for an everenlarging spectacle of three-dimensional preserved fossil animals excavated by paleontologists as visitors
watch and share in the discoveries.
It was the generosity of the Theodore F. and Claire M. Hubbard Family Foundation of Omaha and other
donors who made this all possible. The Hubbards have a long history of supporting wildlife conservation and
wildlife education projects at the Henry Doorly Zoo. This interest connected them with the history of exotic
wildlife in Nebraska and led them to a desire to help conserve the extraordinary remains of that prehistoric
wildlife at Ashfall Park. (continued on page 10)
MUSEUM NEWS
The Friends of
the University of Nebraska
State Museum
Board of Directors
Mike Madcharo, President
David Rowe,Vice-President
Mel Thornton, Treasurer
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Karen Amen
Mark Brohman
Marcia Hollestelle
Michael Leite
Diane Pratt
Keely Rennie-Tucker
Lynn Sobotka
Diann Sorensen
Mark Sorensen
Ex-Officio
Priscilla Grew
Karen Amen
Advisory Council
Judy Diamond
Connie Pejsar
Norm Smith
Mike Zeleny
Ashfall Chapter
Ruan Pohlman, President
Congratulations! to the following staff members who will be
honored this fall for their years of service to the University:
Kathy French – 15 years
Amy Spiegel – 15 years
Greg Brown – 30 years
R. George Corner – 40 years
Museum Stories
I have a story to share with you that occurred on Astronomy Day.
A husband and wife told me that their daughter wanted to spend her
birthday at the Museum. My guess is that her age was 8-9 years
old. They did not know that it was Astronomy Day at the Museum.
They brought several other adults and children for this celebration.
Their daughter’s name is Venus.
I know that getting people back to the Museum and firsttime visitors are important. To me, the Museum has so much to
offer. The time parents and children can spend one-on-one is one
example (preaching to the choir).
I feel that the Friends are ambassadors for the Museum. I like
the Friends to be able to be that for the Museum. To have that oneon- one with the visitors.
One more story from that day. A girl’s rocket had accidentally
landed on top of the robots (for national security) trailer. It was great
to see these gentlemen and Mike try different techniques to get this
small toy back to this little girl. They finally took a screen off a top air
vent and reached the toy. There were a few of us cheering on the
sidelines. These guys were heroes for this girl and mother.
Diane Pratt
Lifetime Friends Members:
Friends Member
Bill & Ruth Scott
Friends Board Member
David Lind Scott
Douglas & Pam Cast
Morrie & Amy Tuttle
Betty & Bruce Anderson
Palmer & Shirley Johnson
Raymond & Bernita Neujahr
James & Nancy Estes
Norm & Bernice Harris
Lifetime memberships are
awarded for exemplary service
to the Friends Organization.
Wildlife and Nature Photo Contest
Get out your cameras! The University of Nebraska State Museum is sponsoring a Wildlife and Nature Photo
Contest. This contest is open to amateur photographers who are age 18 and older. We are looking for
striking images of nature taken anywhere in the world. These images may show animal behavior, portraits of
wildlife in natural habitat, plant life, natural landscapes, or people interacting with nature. Photo categories
are: Mammals, Birds, Other Wildlife, Nature and People, Landscapes and Skyscapes, and Plant Life. The
grand prize photo and all first place photos will be featured on the Museum’s web site. All entries will be on
exhibit in Morrill Hall from November 2, 2009, through February 28, 2010.
Deadline for entry is 4:30 pm, September 30, 2009.
Additional details and the required entry form are available on the Museum’s web site at
www.museum.unl.edu/
&
I N F O
University of Nebraska
State Museum Staff
Phone Numbers
Director’s Office
Museum Information Line School Program Reservations
Friends Office Planetarium
Nebraska Hall Office
Ashfall Fossil Beds
Trailside Museum
402/472.3779
402/472.2642
402/472.6302
402/472.3779
402/472.2641
402/472.2643
402/893.2000
308/665.2929
Director: Priscilla C. Grew
Associate Director: Mark Harris
Staff Assistant: Dana Ludvik
Informal Science Education: Judy Diamond
Amy Spiegel
Education Coordinator: Kathy French
Museum Associates: Ann Cusick
Carrie Ford
Saundra Frerichs
Cindy Loope
Ina Van der Veen
Research Partnerships Coordinator: Brett Ratcliffe
Scientific Illustrator: Angie Fox
Research Collections Staff Secretary: Gail Littrell
Anthropology: Alan Osborn
NAGPRA/Collections Assistant: Susan Curtis
Nebraska Archaeological Survey: Alan Osborn
Botany: Robert Kaul
Collection Manager: Thomas Labedz
Collections Assistant: Linda Rader
Entomology: Brett Ratcliffe
Collection Manager: M.J. Paulsen
Geology: Samuel Treves
Invertebrate Paleontology: Roger Pabian
Parasitology: Scott Gardner
Collection Manager: Gabor Racz
Vertebrate Paleontology: Robert Hunt, Jr.
Ross Secord
Collection Manager: R. George Corner
Preparators: Gregory Brown
Robert Skolnick
Ellen Stepleton
Highway Salvage Paleontologist: Shane Tucker
Highway Salvage Preparator: Nicholas Famoso
Zoology: Patricia Freeman
Collection Manager: Thomas Labedz
Affiliated Courtesy, Adjunct, and Emeritus Faculty:
Anthropology: Thomas Myers
Entomology: Mary Liz Jameson
Geology: Robert Diffendal
Parasitology: John Janovy, Mary Lou Pritchard
Vertebrate Paleontology: Michael Voorhies
Zoology: Hugh Genoways, Paul Johnsgard
Accounting Clerk: Judy Ray
Exhibit Design Specialist: Ron Pike
Graphics Design Specialist: Joel Nielsen
Mueller Planetarium Supervisor: Jack Dunn
Public Service Associate: Linda Thompson
Museum Assistant: Brandon Earnest
Discovery Shop Assistant: Leah Carpenter
Ashfall Fossil Beds Superintendent: Rick Otto
Museum Specialist: Sandy Mosel
Trailside Museum Staff Assistant: Susan Veskerna
Newsletter Editor and Design: Gail Littrell
VISIT THE MUSEUM ONLINE
www.museum.unl.edu
MORRILL HALL
South of 14th and Vine Streets
402/472.2642
University of Nebraska - Lincoln Campus
Lincoln, Nebraska
Open Year Around
Monday - Saturday: 9:30 am - 4:30 pm, Thursdays
until 8:00 pm; Sundays: 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Closed Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving,
December 24-25, and January 1
Planetarium Closed on Mondays
A S H FA L L F O S S I L B E D S
86930 517 Avenue
402/893.2000
Royal, NE 68773
Located seven miles north of Highway 20 between
Royal and Orchard, Nebraska.
Open Seasonally. Call 402/893.2000 for schedule.
T R A I LS I D E M U S E U M
PO Box 462
308/665.2929
Crawford, NE 69339
Located on Highway 20 at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.
Fun Fact
A great bell that once called the students to class at the University, beginning in 1871, for years hung in University Hall,
the first building on the campus. For numerous years, the bell was stored in the Anthropology Division of the Museum
after being rescued from a local garbage heap behind a fraternity house. It was turned over to the Alumni Association
in 1982 and is now proudly displayed in the courtyard of the Wick Alumni Center. In the early 1970s, there was a plan
to display it on 5th floor Nebraska Hall at the entrance to the Museum’s research collections where it could be viewed
through the great picture window in the elevator lobby. There were no Museum funds to follow through on the project.
AUGUST 2009
N E W S
FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK
Are you ready for school to start? This summer has flown by, seems amazing it is already time to begin
another academic year! The Museum has been busy this summer and our attendance is up. As you will see
in this issue, we were involved in educational outreach activities across Nebraska, and we celebrated the
historic dedication of the wonderful new Hubbard Rhino Barn at Ashfall.
Ross Secord, our new Vertebrate Paleontology Curator, has submitted a major new proposal to the Biological
Research Collections program in the National Science Foundation. Ross has been continuing his field work
in Wyoming this summer on the fossil record of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (“PETM”) that he
discussed in his talk to the Friends in January. We will keep our fingers crossed and hope for funding!
Scott Gardner and his team had a successful summer field season in Mongolia—as you may recall, last
year’s fieldwork had to be deferred to 2009 due to the aftermath of the tragic earthquake in China that
disrupted logistics. The project has two more summer seasons coming up. The field party consisted of
about 18 persons including the support staff. They are working in Govi Gurvan Saikhan National Park on the
parasites of small vertebrates. Scott also represented UNL at the 10th International Mammalogical Congress
in Mendoza, Argentina in August.
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Meanwhile, Brett Ratcliffe is spending August continuing his entomology research as a visiting scientist
at the Natural History Museum in London. In the Anthropology Division, Alan Osborn has continued his
archaeological surveys in Nebraska, and Susan Curtis was invited by Mie Prefecture to escort our Friendship
Doll Miss Mie back to Japan for a special tour.
Our worldwide outreach is continuing with the recentlyreleased video clips by Richard Dawkins (Emeritus
Professor, University of Oxford) that are now available
as six “Nebraska Vignettes” both on YouTube and on his
website at http://richarddawkins.net/rdftv. Prof. Dawkins
visited Morrill Hall in March, toured the Museum with Judy
Diamond and George Corner, and recorded these 3-minute
explanatory talks about the Explore Evolution exhibit.
On July 23, I was invited to lead a field trip in Morrill Hall
for the Wachiska Audubon Society (Southeast Nebraska).
We took a “Walk Through Time” focusing on our Museum’s
dinosaur and bird fossils. One of the most important
Left to right: Richard Dawkins, Judy Diamond, and
features of the fantastic fossil preservation at Ashfall Fossil Priscilla Grew tour the Explore Evolution exhibit in
Beds is Morrill Hall, March 9, 2009.
that very
delicate bird bones are preserved so that paleontologists
can study features that normally are completely lost in the
fossilization process. In this new Ashfall painting by Mark
Marcuson, we see the amazing “Secretarybird Mimic” that
lived in Nebraska 12 million years ago. Scientists know
this was a hawk because of its toe bones! Had they not
been so perfectly preserved in ash, this bird with long
legs might easily have been mistaken for a relative of
the modern secretary bird that lives in Africa. This is an
example of convergence in evolution, in which unrelated
animals become anatomically similar as they adapt to
similar environments, in this case the savanna environment
Secretarybird Mimic (Apatosagittarius terrenus) from
that existed in the Miocene at Ashfall.
Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. Illustration
by Mark Marcuson, one of a series of new paintings
of Ashfall animals now on display in the Hubbard
Rhino Barn.
Priscilla Grew
Director
MUSEUM NEWS
This fascinating story about our famous mammoth, Archie, was hand-delivered by Nora Kaye Clark, daughter
of the late Walter Linnemeyer who died in 2007. These are Mr. Linnemeyer’s childhood recollections about
Archie’s discovery and unusual journey throughout Nebraska. Much of this story was a great surprise to all of
us at the State Museum. We are looking for a volunteer who might attempt to verify certain parts of this story
by researching State Archives. If that interests you, please contact Mark Harris at 402-472-6699.
Mammoth Bones & Bootleg Whiskey
As Told by: Walter Linnemeyer
Along with: Marlin Nutt (Nephew)
When I was about six years old, Henry Kariger, who lived about seven miles from my family in Curtis,
Nebraska, dug up a prehistoric Mammoth skeleton.
For a long time, Mr. Kariger’s chickens would scratch in a spot on his property. He didn’t think too much
about it until one day his horse tripped on something in this same spot. When he looked closer, he could see
a bone sticking out of the ground. When he started digging it out, he discovered huge bones buried there.
When the job got too much for him to handle himself, he called on neighbors to help.
They used a team of horses to pull the bones out of the hole – one at a time. The skull was so big it took
two teams of horses to get it out. Henry got a hold of my Dad (Henry Linnemeyer) to make boxes to hold the
bones. These boxes were made especially to fit on the back of his truck used to carry the bones from the
burial site.
Eventually, he thought they had found all the bones except for one tusk. He finally had to give up
searching and wait until spring in hopes that the remains would wash away more of the soil and expose the
missing tusk. It did and by the following summer (1921), Mr. Kariger had a complete Mammoth skeleton.
I remember the day Mom decided she wanted to go see Mr. Kariger’s pile of bones. Slim, who was about
ten years old, got bucked off a horse and landed on a metal bucket. He was knocked out and didn’t come to
until we got to the Kariger place.
Word spread about the discovery of a prehistoric Mammoth skeleton and people from around Nebraska
would contact Mr. Kariger and ask him to display his bones at their county fairs. He took his tent and set
up his display in the boxes that Dad made for him. Then he charged people an entry fee to look at his giant
skeleton.
This went on for about a year when a representative from Lincoln contacted him and asked if he could
bring his exhibit to the Nebraska State Fair in Lincoln. This was quite an honor, so off to Lincoln Henry went –
once again, setting up his tent and display. However, Mr. Kariger didn’t tell the whole story. Besides charging
people to see his bones, he was also selling bootleg whiskey out behind his tent. When the revenuers found
out about his side business, they confiscated his illegal whiskey and his prehistoric dinosaur bones.
**Today, the huge mammoth skeleton, known as “Archie,” is on display in Elephant Hall of the University of
Nebraska State Museum (Morrill Hall). The front limbs were placed on display in their former museum in
1925 and for several years served as the entrance to the fossil exhibits as visitors would walk between the
front legs. The finished complete mount in Morrill Hall was dedicated in the winter of 1953 and he still stands
there today. The mount measures 14 feet high at the shoulder – and was still growing when he died. He is
estimated to have weighed nearly fifteen tons. He has always been claimed by UNSM as one of the world’s
largest mammoths.
It has been estimated that the remains of no fewer than ten mammoths lie buried in an average square mile
of Nebraska landscape. The University of Nebraska State Museum has the remains of mammoths and
mastodons from at least 84 of Nebraska’s 93 counties.
Note: The Museum credits Henry Kariger as the man who found the skeleton, but they don’t tell how it ended
up in their possession.
AUGUST 2009
**Information from the University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska
ANTHROPOLOGY
Miss Mie’s Story Continues
Miss Mie has returned, temporarily, to her “birth place” on the island of
Honshu in Japan. Miss Mie was among the 58 Friendship Dolls that
Japanese school children sent to the United States in 1927. Our Museum
is home for Miss Mie, as well as all of her accessories and more than
150 friendship letters. Miss Mie will be restored by the Yoshitoku Doll
Company in Tokyo. Following her restoration, Miss Mie will tour within Mie
Prefecture during the spring of 2010 and then return to Nebraska. Miss
Mie’s arrival at the Museum will be marked by a public celebration to honor
a new and growing friendship with the citizens of Mie Prefecture and the people of Japan.
Dr. Priscilla Grew received the following letter from Sadao Ito, whose mother was one of the children who
wrote letters that accompanied the Friendship Dolls that Japanese school children sent to school children
in the United States. The mother’s letter is also shown below; it was written 82 years ago when she was 11
years old.
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23rd Apr. 2009
Dear Ms. Grew
I can’t tell you how grateful and surprised I was to receive a letter which was written by my mother more
than 80 years ago. You have preserved the thank-you letters from little Japanese girls for such a long time.
And you are kind enough to send them back to their own home after more than 80 years later. I never could
have imagined such a warm story would take place in my life.
I had never known about my mother’s letter and it seemed to have slipped from even her own memory, in
the confusion of the war. So, I was surprised as well as excited to read her letter. She passed away 23 years
ago after raising 3 children. But this is her letter, no doubt about it. According to her letter, the doll presented
from your country was named “Mary.” And she was so cute that Japanese children took very good care of
her. They willingly taught her Japanese words in turns. We can imagine how much they were enjoying the
time with “Mary.” And in her letter she was trying so hard to tell your country not to worry about “Mary,” of
course, in a child’s way. Japanese survey said that “Mary” had been burnt by Japanese military in the middle
of the war. It’s another tragedy of the war. I can imagine how very sad my mother must have been to lose
“Mary.”
In Japan, every house has a family Buddhist altar to show respect to their ancestors. I made offerings
of her letter with incense sticks to our
altar. In front of the altar, after reading
her letter again and again, I found out
that it had come back to teach her son
something. It must be “the preciousness
of peace.” This is a valuable
remembrance of my mother and we will
keep it as a family treasure forever.
Thank you once again for keeping
and sending this letter to me. And I’m
highly honored to write to you in America
about such kind of thank-you letters from
not only my mother but also from me.
Yours sincerely,
Sadao Ito
Inabe City, Mie Prefecture, Japan
TRAILSIDE
Destination: Western Nebraska!
On June 23rd Maria Manning, Brandon Earnest, and I set out on a four-day trip to see western Nebraska!
We were headed to the Trailside Museum of Natural History located in Crawford, Nebraska, on the Fort
Robinson State Park grounds. Officially, our goal was to help Susan Veskerna in the gift shop, but we were
also really excited to see the Museum! Even though I’ve worked at Morrill Hall for nearly 7 years, Brandon for
nearly 5, and Maria for nearly 4, none of us had ever been out to see Trailside.
We made the most of our trip, stopping along the way to see Chimney
Rock in Bayard and Carhenge in Alliance. Finally, after traveling through the
plains and then the sandhills, we began to see a side of Nebraska that we had
never seen before or even knew existed. The scenery as we drove toward
Fort Robinson State Park was amazing. Forests, huge rock formations, and
mountainous areas called the “buttes.” After driving all day, we arrived around
7 pm and spent the rest of the evening seeing the sights of the fort and playing
cards on the balcony of the lodge.
The next 2 days were spent helping Susan redesign the store. We worked
hard to rearrange, reorganize, and reprice, as well as making orders for new
merchandise. The Trailside Museum is small
in size, but packed with a huge amount of information, including the famous
“Clash of the Mammoths” exhibit.
After the Museum closed for the day, we had plenty of time to do
some exploring! We took a guided jeep ride up into the Buttes, where we
got a great view of the 22,000 acres of the fort, which is Nebraska’s largest
state park. We tubed down the White
River, which was so fun and would
be a great ride for people of all ages.
Finally, we went on a scenic drive
to see the location of the Cheyenne Outbreak. There was so much to
choose from, and if we would have had more time we would have gone
horseback riding or gone to the playhouse for a musical production.
The history there is unreal! There is just too much to try and
describe – you just have to visit it for yourself. There are so many
places to stay, from a small room in the lodge, which was perfect for us,
to cabins and houses for entire families….if you have a big group, rent
the Comanche House, it sleeps 60! The food was great too, the lodge
has a restaurant, or you can go on into Crawford; for such a small town they really did have lots of choices.
We all hope to go back very soon and really want to let all of you know how lucky we are to have this
amazing place in our state. Please go visit Trailside and then experience all that Fort Robinson has to offer.
We promise you won’t regret it! — Leah, Maria, and Brandon
AUGUST 2009
The summer season of 2009 is in full swing at the Trailside. This is my first year working at the Museum.
I’ve met so many interesting people. It’s hard to imagine that this Museum in such an out-of-the-way place
would attract such a diverse group of people from all parts of the world. So far this season, we have received
visitors from Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Germany, and Australia. From the United States, visitors
have come from the East coast, the West coast, Florida to Alaska, and everywhere in between.
It has been very enjoyable to greet our visitors and watch how they react and interact with the Museum.
There is the wide-eyed excitement of the children as they come up the stairs and get their first look at our
mammoth. There are families that come in and are amazed that the mammoths were found locally and use
this as an opportunity to teach their children about a topic that never crossed their minds when they started
out on their summer vacation. It makes you wonder just how many future scientists this visit may create.
Then there are the “arm-chair” paleontologists – these folks are extremely knowledgeable and they take
this topic very seriously. The questions they ask are quite technical in nature and their visit to the Trailside
Museum is part of a scientifically-oriented vacation.
We are all having a great time out here this summer. It isn’t too late to come on out to the Trailside for a
visit. Hope to see you before the season ends. — Marcia Kelly, Trailside Associate
EDUCATION
Teachers ‘Rock’ at the Earth Science Institute
Summer vacation for 16 teachers began with a bang! No sitting around relaxing with your feet up! Instead
they piled into vans for a week in June and charted 2,000 miles. This outstanding group hiked long trails,
climbed up hillsides, identified rock formations, visited Trailside and Ashfall museums, and experienced
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Scottsbluff National Monument, Chimney Rock, Agate Fossil Beds, and the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs.
We got rained on every day and they never complained. The teachers journaled, laughed, and photographed
all the way!
The Museum partnered with the Nebraska Department
of Education and the KICKS (Keep Improving Content,
Knowledge, and Skills) Science grant. KICKS is funded
through Title II, Part B of the Math/Science Partnerships
grant, a component of NCLB (No Child Left Behind)
legislation. This ‘Earth Science Institute’ was available for
intermediate and middle school teachers throughout the
state.
Shane Tucker, Highway Salvage Paleontologist, was the
lead instructor for the trip. He did an outstanding job of
sharing Nebraska’s geologic and fossil record. Kathy
French, Education Coordinator, and Jim Woodland,
Science Director from
the Department of Education, were also along to assist with teaching and
sharing the Museum’s educational resources.
The teachers learned earth science content and developed science process
skills through this week of hands-on experiences. They all agreed that they
would never drive across Nebraska again like they had in the past. They
have a new knowledge base with which to look at the rocks, understand
the geologic formations, and be able to share this all with their students in
the fall. Many have already adapted their curriculum to include this newly
acquired knowledge.
Shane and Kathy will host a day at the Museum for this group in the fall.
The teachers will continue their quest for more resources from the Museum
as well as spending time in the research division. A reunion is planned for
spring. We will meet at Mahoney State Park for a weekend to continue the
EDUCATION
exploration of Nebraska’s eastern geology and paleontology. This will complete the Earth Science Institute for
2009-2010.
Kathy French, Education Coordinator
OLLI Visits Ashfall
The OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) ‘More than Elephants’ class wanted to take a field trip to Ashfall.
We did! The OLLI office offered this one-day excursion to its members and filled the bus with 55 people
(double the class size). Kathy French, Education Coordinator, went along to facilitate the trip. Everyone
enjoyed the new rhino barn, the unbelievable fossil record, and a wonderful lunch at the Green Gables!
AUGUST 2009
Kathy French, Education Coordinator
ASHFALL
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(continued from cover)
Several hundred people attended the dedication ceremony. Keynote speaker, Harold Andersen (former
chair of the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation) reminisced about the expeditious decision-making
and planning of the Ashfall Park in the 1980s. UN-L Chancellor, Harvey Perlman, and Game and Parks
Commissioner, Rex Amack,
celebrated the cooperation
between the University of
Nebraska State Museum and
the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission that makes up the
unique nature of Ashfall Park,
and noted the developments and
improvements that have taken
place since the park opened
in 1991. Clarence Castner,
president of the University
of Nebraska Foundation,
expressed appreciation for
the Hubbard’s gift, which was
donated to the Foundation.
Acknowledged at the event were
representatives of the Hubbard
family – Claire, Anne, Ted, and
Colleen – as well as others who
made significant donations to the new rhino barn including Mark and Diann Sorensen, Loren Toohey, and the
Ashfall Chapter of the Friends of the State Museum.
While there were some first-time visitors at the dedication, most were supporters and well-wishers who have
visited the park on a regular basis over the past eighteen years. Many commented on the impressive size
of the new building and the wonderful new exhibits, such as the panels explaining the volcanic activity that
created Ashfall, and the new
posters depicting the animals
that inhabited the great North
American savanna 12 million
years ago. Everyone marveled at
the possibilities that lay ahead, as
they watched the Ashfall interns
working a new area of the fossil
bed that had been previously
outside of the original barn. All
conversation was abuzz with
excitement over this much-needed
phase of development coming
to fruition after several years of
anticipation and patient waiting.
It would be difficult to overstate
the importance of the support of
those individuals, whether part of
a larger foundation or not, who recognize the value of preserving Nebraska’s fossil heritage and the Ashfall
Park’s roll in educating the public about our prehistoric past. The dedication of the new Hubbard Rhino
Barn was an opportunity to celebrate both the gifts and the givers who have made it possible to continue
the mission of the Ashfall Fossil Beds and to look to the future with much anticipation and hope for years of
scientific discovery and education.
— Sandy Mosel, Ashfall
10
ASHFALL
It Comes Full Circle
When the Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park opened in June 1991, thousands of people visited to get
a first glimpse at the newly-exposed fossils in the Rhino Barn. One of those visitors was three-year-old Ben
Brogie from Creighton, Nebraska. Evidently that first visit made an impression on young Ben, who found
himself helping excavate the foundation for the new Hubbard Rhino Barn some seventeen years later. As
part of the summer staff at Ashfall during the summers of 2007 and 2008, Ben was able to excavate for the
same kinds of fossils that he first saw as a preschooler all those years before.
Ben is currently a student at the University of South Dakota, just completing his junior year majoring in
biology. He accepted a position as a summer intern with the National Park Service, and has been working
this year at Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Ben is the son of Mark and Ellen Brogie of
Creighton, Nebraska.
As an employee of the Ashfall Fossil Beds State
Historical Park during the summer of 2008, Ben
Brogie helped to excavate the site where the
foundation would be set for the new Hubbard Rhino
Barn that opened this season. He is pictured here
with fossils cast for removal from the construction
site last summer.
Ellen Brogie points out details on fossil skeletons
to her three-year-old son, Ben, as Greg Brown
excavates in the original Rhino Barn in 1991, the first
summer of operation at the Ashfall Fossil Beds.
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AUGUST 2009
Sandy Mosel
Ashfall
MUSEUM NEWS
Sand Hills Discovery Experience
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In July, the Museum assisted with the annual Sand Hills Discovery Experience in Ainsworth, Nebraska.
This three-day conference includes tours, workshops, and presentations on regionally-related topics and
research. This year’s conference included talks about Mari Sandoz, 19th century medicine, early fossil
expeditions to Nebraska, Native American use of prairie plants, and overall stability of the grasslands covering
the sand dunes.
Kathy French, Museum Education Coordinator, presented a ‘hands-on’ session to learn more about the
four Nebraska Native American tribes living here today. Twenty-four participants discovered tribal history
and customs through activities from the Museum’s Encounter Kits. The Winnebago, Omaha, Santee Sioux,
and Ponca tribes have worked with the Museum to produce their own kits. Each is a voice of their tribe and
they vary in scope. The conference participants enjoyed creating star quilt designs, touching the buffalo,
and learning more about pow wows and native dance. They had many questions and left with a heightened
interest in Nebraska’s Native Americans.
As an affiliated tour, conference attendees could help paleontologists with their excavation at the Rick
Irwin Site. The quarry, named for the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) employee who discovered the
locality, is a great setting to discuss the importance of salvaging fossils from highway construction projects
and emphasize the cooperation between the Museum and NDOR. More than 40 children and adults
excavated, screened, and sorted gravel from this six-million-year-old stream channel. Everyone found a fossil
and all specimens will be incorporated into the Museum’s research collection.
Next year’s Sand Hills Discovery Experience will be July 7-9, 2010. Pencil it in on your calendars and
come delve into an exciting learning adventure in your own backyard! More information about the conference
is available at www.sandhillsdiscovery.org.
—Shane Tucker, Highway Salvage Paleontologist
Investigating moccasins, shawls, beads,
and ribbon shirts from the Omaha kit. Photo
courtesy Ainsworth Star-Journal.
‘Touching the Buffalo’ activity from the Ponca kit.
Photo courtesy Ainsworth Star-Journal.
Participants dig through sand and gravel hoping to find the next discovery. Turtle shell fragments, three-toed
horse remains, and tooth enamel pieces are commonly found while trowelling through these sands.
12
MUSEUM NEWS
Sand Hills Discovery Experience
After excavation, the sand and gravel are placed on a screen table. As it dries, the sand falls through the
mesh leaving behind gravel, bones, and teeth. Gravel larger than 1/4” is sorted in the field; the finer gravel is
bagged and picked in the prep lab in Lincoln.
This year’s finds included fish, amphibian, turtle, three-toed horse, beaver, horned rodent, mouse, rabbit, and
mole remains.
13
AUGUST 2009
Dr. Jerry Adler (left), Nick O’Donnell, and
Carolyn Hall (right) show their discoveries.
Jerry found a horse tooth, Nick a beaver
tooth, and Carolyn a badger tooth.
Participants sort through the gravel picking out
teeth and bones. A 30-pound bag of gravel can
take more than 12 hours to process in the lab.
THE MAMMOTH
F R I E N D S O F T H E U N IV E R S ITY O F N E B R A S K A
STAT E
MUSEUM
CURRENT FRIENDS MEMBERSHIP
The Abel Foundation
Bamband & Caroline Adiwijaya
Jerry & Ora Adler
David & Alicia Admiraal
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The Albakhit/Alhusami Family
Angela & Matt Alesio
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CEDARS
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14
Jonathan & Amy Lobmeyer
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CURRENT FRIENDS MEMBERSHIP
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Dan L Shoop II & Jeffry Dwight
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Rachel Pejsar-Snelling
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The Toohey Family
Richard Toren &
Sara LeRoy-Toren
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Kirk Morrow
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Ken & Erny Von Bargen
Ben Vrana
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Wegner Household
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Linda Willard
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Julie & Christopher Wollberg
The Wood Family
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The Wroblewski Family
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The Yigal Family
The Young Family
The Young/DeFusco Family
The Young/Hinkley Family
Ron Zalkind &
Karin Sharav-Zalkind
Ora Zawel
Mike Zeleny
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Shari Zinnecker
Teresa & Doug Zulauf
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ARE YOU A MEMBER?
Your membership in the Friends of the University of Nebraska State Museum helps to support Museum development, exhibits, and programs
both at the Museum and around the State. Membership benefits (memberships and donations are tax-deductible):
˚ Unlimited free admission to Morrill Hall, Trailside Museum of Natural History, and Ashfall Fossil Beds
(Note: Each visit to Ashfall requires a park entry permit: $4 one-time / $20 annual.)
˚ Free subscription to The Mammoth, the Museum’s quarterly newsletter ˚ 10% discount on purchases from our gift shop
˚ Discounted Planetarium admission (adults $2.50, kids $2)
˚ 10% discount on Museum birthday parties
˚ Invitations to our annual meeting, Friends events, receptions, and new exhibit openings
˚ Voting rights at the annual meeting
˚ Your name listed in the Friends’ publications
˚ Free or reduced admission and/or discounts at thousands of museums belonging to the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) “Passport” program. Visit: www.astc.org for list. Many museums belonging to American Association of Museums (AAM) also offer discounts. Look for “accredited museums” at: www.aam-us.org.
Annual Membership Levels
◊ Family $45 (includes two adults with their children under 18 years of age)
Special Donor Membership Levels (includes Individual or Family membership)
◊ Tusker’s Club – donations between $60 and $99
◊ Fossil Funder – donations between $100 and $249
◊ Nautilus Club – donations between $250 and $499
◊ Scarab Society – donations between $500 and $999
◊ Mammoth Circle – donations between $1,000+
Note: Incentives are included at each level; details on web site.
Add membership with the Ashfall Fossil Beds Friends chapter: $10 per year
For more information, call the Friends Office at 402-472-3779. Or email the Friends at: [email protected]. Visit the Friends
website at www.friendsofthemuseum.org. Remit dues to: Friends of the State Museum, 307 Morrill Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0357.
15
AUGUST 2009
Basic Membership Levels
◊ Individual $30
FRIENDS OF THE
STATE MUSEUM
PAID
UNL
THE MAMMOTH
F R I E N D S O F T H E U N IV E R S ITY O F N E B R A S K A
STAT E
MUSEUM
Friends of the University of
Nebraska State Museum
307 Morrill Hall
P.O. Box 880357
Lincoln, NE 68588-0357
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The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is an equal opportunity educator and employer with a comprehensive plan for diversity.
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