Harrison, NE: Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is celebrating 50 years as a national monument on
July 25, 2015. This will be a fun and educational day filled with guided hikes, talks and children
activities. Highlights include a paleontology hike to the Fossil Hills starting at 9:00 a.m., a question-and-
answer session by a great granddaughter of James Cook, a presentation by a paleontologist on one of the
impressive animals found at Agate Fossil Beds, and a ranger program on the significance of the historic
Bone Cabin. Bring your lunch and spend some time.
Starting at 9:00 a.m. Dr. Darrin Pagnac, Assistant Professor of Geology at the South Dakota School of
Mines and Technology, will lead a paleontology hike to the Fossil Hills. This is the location of the
historic excavations that went on from 1904 – 1923. The trail is 2.7 miles round trip, on smooth walking
surface with an easy to moderate uphill incline.
Back at the visitor center the afternoon activities will continue at 12:00 with local area students sharing
their experiences in this year’s National History Day. Their projects focused on James Cook’s legacy in
paleontology and his family’s relationship with Red Cloud and other Northern Plains Indians. Julie and
Samuel Skavdahl designed and developed an innovative display exhibit, while Jack Skavdahl, developed
a website that competed at the National History Day contest in Washington, D.C. Both projects will be
on display throughout the day.
At 12:15 a.m. Special Guest Gretchen Meade will offer insight into her family’s role in the Agate
community. Ms. Meade is a great granddaughter of James Cook, the rancher who found the fossil that set
off the search that changed the understanding of mammalian paleontology. She will host a question-and-
answer session on the Cook Family, the ranch, and the Cooks’ relationship with paleontologists. Meade
lives in British Columbia, Canada where she is a retired librarian. Her parents, Dorothy and Grayson
Meade lived in the Agate Springs ranch house, and she is very familiar with the family history. Her
memories of the ranch and her grandfather Harold and great-grandfather James are a piece of history
important to the monument.
At 1:30 p.m. the 50th anniversary birthday cake will be cut and served.
At 2 p.m. Dr. Greg McDonald, Senior Curator of Natural Resources for the National Park Service, will
present “Moropus, The Sloth That Never Was: A Paleontological Adventure in Strange Anatomy.” Dr.
McDonald was the Paleontologist at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument for several years as well
as the Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at Cincinnati Museum Center and Paleontology program
Coordinator for the National Park Service. The Moropus, whose fossilized remains were found in the
-More-
quarries was an unusual animal related to the horse. Its clawed hooves led paleontologists to believe that
they have found a giant sloth but that thinking changed over time.
At 3:30 the activity moves to the Bone Cabin where Ranger Alvis Mar will talk about the methods used to
protect the Fossil Hills in the early 1900’s by Harold Cook, James Cook’s eldest son. The Bone Cabin
was not made of bones nor is it full of bones, however the name comes from the fact that at one time
during the excavations it was used and lived in by the paleontologists who were bone hunters.
Throughout the day many activities for children will be offered. Feed the Dinohyus, Pin the Tail on the
Moropus, Hula-Hoop-Taht-Alon are just some of the active options, while the Red Cloud Watch and the
Paint-Your-Own-Fossil Magnet are on the more contemplative and creative side. As always, our Junior
Ranger and Junior Paleontologist set of activities, in which children ages 5 through 13 can earn badges,
will be available.
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is located just 22 miles south of Harrison, or 34 miles north of
Mitchell, Nebraska on State Highway 29, then east on River Road for three miles to the visitor center.
The visitor center is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and two trails are open from dawn till dusk. Admission
to Agate Fossil Beds is free. For more information, call 308-668-2211 or 308-436-9760 or go to
www.nps.gov/agfo or visit Agate Fossil Beds on Facebook.
www.nps.gov
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for
America’s 407 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local
history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.