A preliminary list of fossil mastodon and mammoth remains in Illinois and Iowa

'

A PRELIMINARY LIST OF

•

Fossil Mastodon and Mammoth

Remains

IN

ILLINOIS AND IOWA

BY

NETTA C. ANDERSON

INTRODUCTORY,

In submitting the subjoined Preliminary List of
Fossil Elephant and Mastodon Remains in Illinois and
Iowa, which is believed to be the first of its kind in
these states, the compiler does not intend to imply
that the list is nearly complete; she is impelled to pub-
lish the result of her research, thus far, in the hope that
such a list may be of assistance in securing further
data along this line. The difficulty in securing reliable
information can be easily appreciated, for compara-
tively seldom does the working Geologist see such re-
mains in situ, and the museums, their ultimate reposi-
tories, appear to keep scant record of the circumstan-
ces connected with such finds, their geographical and
geological position, date of their discovery, etc.

In presenting this list the compiler would therefore
make her humble plea for more complete and more
carefully kept data from which the specialist must pro-
ceed in determining more nearly the true horizon of
these huge Proboscidians. She also wishes to express
her gratitude to the State Geologists and Assistants,
to Librarians, Curators of different museums, and to
numerous private individuals, all of whom have so
cheerfully assisted her, and in particular to Dr. J. A.
Udden, of Augustana College, does she feel indebted for
invaluable assistance and encouragement.

Rock Island, Illinois, May, 1905

ILLINOIS

•

CALHOUN COUNTY.

From the cla-y (drift clay) in the side of a ravine in Calhoun
county, Illinois, we recovered the jaw of an elephant beside which
Jumbo would seem small. One of the teeth from this jaw weighs
nearly eighteen pounds.

(McAdams, Transactions, St. Louis Academy of Science, Vol. IV, No. 3,
p. Ixxix.)

CHRISTIAN COUNTY.

Sangamon River. — A tooth of a mammoth was found by Da-
vid Miller in a sand drift near the South Fork of the Sangamon
river, and was presented to the State Cabinet. This specimen is
of a chalky white color and does not appear to have been impreg-
nated with any mineral substance since it was imbedded in the

earth.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. I, p. 38.)

COOK COUNTY.

Evanston. — The tooth of a mammoth was taken from a
gravel pit near Evanston. It was placed in the Museum of North-
western University.

(Reported by Prof. U. S. Grant, Northwestern University.)

Glencoe. — A fragment of a mastodon tooth four and three-
fourths inches long was dug up by Mr. James Robertson while
ditching in glacial drift at Glencoe. The fragment, which is
from the proximal end, is now in the possession of Mr. Walter
O'Neill of Lake Forest.

(Reported by Prof. James G. Needham, Lake Forest College.)

10 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

DU PAGE COUNTY.

About 1875 some mastodon remains were found in a bog
about eight miles, southwest from Naperville. They were donated
to the Museum of Jennings Seminary, Aurora.

(Reported "by L. M. Umbach, Northwestern College.)

Wheaton. — About 1890 the remains of a mammoth were
found while ditching on the Jewell farm near Wheaton. The re-
mains consisted of about a dozen ribs, as many vertebrae, one
femur, and other parts of the legs.

(Reported by Pres. Charles A. Blancliard, Wheaton College.)

EDGAR COUNTY.

The bottoms of the prairie sloughs along the western edge of
Edgar county generally contain more or less light brown marly
clay containing fresh water shells. From one of these slough bot-
toms a nearly perfect skeleton of a mastodon was obtained some
years since, which, after having been exhibited through all this
part of the United States, is said to have been sold to a Philadel-
phia museum. Fragments of this animal are not rare hereabouts.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. IV, p. 216.)

FULTON COUNTY:

The Museum of Knox College contains the tooth of an ele-
phant which was found in Fulton county. This specimen, which
is much decayed, was found near the surface of the ground.

(Reported by Albert Hurd, Curator of Museum, Knox College.)

GALLATIN COUNTY.

Equality. — "Half Moon" — Many mammoth and mastodon
bones and enamel plates of teeth, the less enduring parts of the
latter mouldered into dust, have been found here. Half Moon is

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 11

a salt lick beneath which is a yellowish clay mixed with gravel
and sand, belonging to the age of drift. The salt work was origi-
nally a swamp, for the bones lie on this drift.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. I, p. 38.)

A fine tooth of a mastodon was found in Gallatin county and
presented to the State Cabinet, but under what conditions it was

found is not at present known.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. I, p. 38.)

Shawneetown.— Teeth of a mastodon were found close to the
water's edge in front of Shawneetown. They were imbedded in a
shallow deposit of bluish clay resting upon yellow clay and gravel.
Corresponds in geological time with bone beds at Half Moon.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. VI, p. 214.)

GRUNDY COUNTY.

Morris. — In 1868 mastodon remains were found at Turner's
Strippings, three miles east of Morris, under eighteen inches of
black mucky soil and about four feet of yellowish loam and resting
on about one foot of hard blue clay, which covered the coal. The
bones were badly decayed, and most of them were broken up and
thrown away by the miners. Of the remaining, Mr. J. Evan, of
Morris, obtained and presented to the State Cabinet, a part of a
thigh-bone, a fragment of a lower jaw, three teeth, and a few of
the smaller bones. The locality is a part of the old river bottom,
and in the lack of personal observation, I am uncertain whether
to believe that the presence of the bones indicates that the animal
was mired and died there or to suppose that the carcass was de-
posited there by the river.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. IV, p. 193.)

Minooka.—"In 1902 Mr. John Bamford, in enlarging a bog-
spring, encountered a mass of Bison, Deer, and Elk bones at
about five feet below the surface. Passing through nearly two

12 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

feet of these, he came upon mastodon bones in abundance. Skulls
of at least six different individuals had been found in a well ten
feet in diameter when I visited the place in 1902. These animals
had evidently resorted to this drinking place and had mired in
the bog. Old settlers related several instances of cattle becoming
mired at this place in the same way."

(Reported by E. 8. Riggs, Assistant Curator of Paleontology, Field Colum-
bian Museum, Chicago.)

HANCOCK COUNTY.

Warsaw.— "About five or six years ago one of my nephews
found a large fragment (about one-half or more) of a mastodon
tooth, sticking out of the bank of a creek, about five miles below
Warsaw."

(Reported by Charles K. Worthen, Warsaw, III.)

.

HENRY COUNTY.

Penny's Slough.— The tooth of a mammoth in a good state
of preservation was found in Penny's Slough and presented to the
Davenport, Iowa, Academy of Science.

(Information obtained from label on specimen.)

Cambridge.— The Museum of the Chicago Academy of Science
contains part of a tusk of a mastodon, recovered at Cambridge
from a well, sixteen feet below the surface; condition poor.

(Reported by Frank C. Baker, Curator, Chicago Academy of Science.)

JO DAVIESS COUNTY.

Blue Mounds. — Mastodon remains have been taken from a
great number of crevices over the whole area of 'the lead region,
showing the species to have lived in immense numbers and
through a long period of time. From a crevice near Blue Mounds,

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 13

bones of a mastodon were taken. Elephas also inhabited this
region, though apparently less abundant than the mastodon.
Few teeth found near the surface at

Galena are all the remains of this animal I met in this region.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. I, p. 162.)

JOHNSON COUNTY.

Bloomfield. — The remains of a jaw and three teeth of a
mastodon were found in the yellow clay about three feet below
the surface near Bloomfield.

(Proceedings, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Vol.
X (18-56), p. 163.)

KANE COUNTY.

Aurora. — In 1870 tusks and several teeth of a mastodon were
obtained from the superficial deposits of this county near Aurora
when the excavation for the track of the Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy railroad were made. These remains are in the Museum of
Clark Seminary at that place.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. IV, p. 113.)

Aurora. — In 1853, while extending the Burlington railroad
south of Aurora, workmen found teeth and a tusk of a mastodon
in a swamp on the edge of Fox river, where the Burlington repair
shops at Aurora are located. The remains were presented to
Jennings Seminary by an official of the road, Benjamin Hackney.

(Reported by Mrs. Susan H. Quereau, Aurora.)

Batavia. — In cutting a ditch to drain a marshy lake of some
two hundred acres, some leg-bones and vertebrae of mastodon
(along with Bison and other bones) were found in a sticky clay
about five feet below the surface.

(Reported, after personal investigation, by E. S. Riggs, Assistant Curator
of Paleontology, Field/ Columbian Museum, Chicago.)

14 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

KNOX COUNTY.

Galesburg. — Knox College Museum contains:

a) The tusk of an elephant which was found near Galesburg.
The specimen is quite imperfect and was taken from recent depos-
its near the surface.

b) An elephant tooth, much decayed, which was found while
ditching on a farm near Galesburg.

Spoon river. — c) A mastodon tooth in good state of preser-
vation, the enamel nearly perfect, which was found in the bed of
Spoon river in Knox county.

(The above three instances reported by Albert Hurd, Curator of Museum,
Knox College.)

MACON COUNTY.

The museum of the Chicago Academy of Science contains, two
rami of the lower jaw and several molars of a mastodon, all in
good state of preservation, which were found in Macon county.

(Reported by Frank C. Baker, Curator, Chicago Academy of Science.)

MADISON COUNTY.

Alton. — A portion of the jawbone of a mastodon with two
teeth remaining was found in the lower part of the loess, just
above the city of Alton. This specimen was found about thirty
feet below the surface and near the bottom of the loess, where it
was only separated from the limestone by two or three feet of
local drift. The bones were of chalky whiteness and in very fine

state of preservation.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. I, p. 315)

MARION COUNTY.

Sandoval. — At Sandoval. about twenty-four miles north of
Beaucoup, mastodon remains were found twelve feet below the
surface, in similar position to the one at Beaucoup.

(Proceedings, American Association tor the Advancement of Science, 1856,
pp. 148—169.)

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 15

OGLE COUNTY.

Byron. — Some years ago a large bone, supposed to be from
the foreleg of a mastodon, was found two or three miles above
Byron. The bank of Hock river had caved down for some dis-
tance back from the stream; some five feet below the surface of
the highland coming up to the river and about fifteen feet above
ordinary water level, the bone was found sticking in the bank.
The bank seems to be a sort of modified drift made up of some-
what marly, dark-colored, alluvial clay intermixed with river
sand and considerable gravel. The formation is hardly alluvium,
but seems to be a kind of river drift. The fossil is light, porous,
and whitish in color, in rather poor state of preservation. We ob-
tained it through the courtesy of Mr. Mix and sent it to the State
Geological Cabinet.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. V, p. 110.)

Harper.— A number of years ago Mr. Gross found the tooth of
a mastodon on his farm in Forreston township, one mile south of
Harper. A small stream cuts through the farm, and one spring,
after a freshet, the tooth was found in a large bed of gravel which
had been washed to one place along the shore of the stream. The
freshet washed a hole about nine feet deep out of the bed of the
stream just above this gravel bed, and the finder, thinking that
the tooth might have been washed out of this place, made a dili-
gent search for other remains, but failed to find anything. The
tooth measures eight inches in length and four and a half inches
in width at the widest point, and is in an excellent state of preser-
vation, having smooth polished surfaces. Another tooth was
found in the same place a short time before by a Mr. Ainsworth.

(Reported by Miss Abba Eager, Forreston.)

Rochelle. — "In July, 1886, 1 saw a collection of mammoth fos-
sils at F. G. Kossman's, a farmer living near Kochelle, which he
obtained in a bog in the northwest part of section thirty-
three, Lynnville township. The fossils found were; one tusk, two

16 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

teeth, one piece of jawbone in which one tooth fitted, four pieces
of ribs, and about a panfull of small bits of bones The tusk
weighed seventy-three pounds, but was not complete, each end be-
ing broken off. The length of the specimen was about five feet,
and it measured twenty inches in circumference at the large end
and about eighteen inches at the small end. The teeth each
weighed twelve and one-half pounds and had a grinding surface
nine inches long by four inches broad. The best rib specimen was
forty inches long and five and three-fourths inches in circumference
at the dorsal end. Another rib, thirty -four inches long, was not
complete. The only further notes I have concerning these speci-
mens is that the grinding surface is three or four inches shorter
than the longest diameter of the tooth."

(Reported by Frank Leverett, Ann Arbor, Mich.)

Stillmari's run. — Remains of the mastodon were found closely
connected with the drift gravels. In 1858 a tooth was found in a
little tributary of Stillman's run. The locality is low— somewhat
marshy. The stream had cut a channel through the black alluvi-
um of the low prairie. The tooth , was washed out and lodged
against a clump of willows when found. It is a ponderous grinder,
weighs seven and a half pounds, is covered with a shining black
enamel, and is a fossil in a high state of preservation.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. V, p. 110.)

PEORIA COUNTY.

Peoria— The remains of a mammoth, consisting of two molar
teeth with a portion of the jaw, were found by Captain Smith in
the gravel bed No. 2 of the following section in the Peoria bluff:

No. 1. Brown prairie clay and soil.

No. 2. Coarse gravel and sand with boulders.

No. 3. Clay and sand forming seven or eight distinct beds,
some containing coarse gravel and boulders.

The specimen was presented to the State Cabinet.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. V, p. 237.)

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 17

PIATT COUNTY.

Atwood. — The Museum of Northwestern University contains
the tooth of a mammoth found near Atwood in 1879. The tooth
was dug up about six feet below the surface.

(Reported by Prof, U. S. Grant, Northwestern University.)

RANDOLPH COUNTY.

Chester. — Mammoth and mastodon remains have been found
in Alton and Chester. The fossils (bones) were found in loess.
These belong to the collection of the Honorable Wm. McAdams,
Alton. ([Iliaois Geological Survey, Vol. VIII, p. 8 )

ROCK ISLAND COUNTY.

Milan. —A piece of a tusk was found in the excavation made
for brick clay by the Rockford Construction Company (1893?) on
the north side of Rock river and on the east side of the Milan
road south of Rock Island. It was taken from the red oxidized
layer which forms the top of the boulder clay in the base of the
bluff here and which was covered by a few feet of loess. The piece
of tusk was about two feet long, but crumbled and broke into
three pieces on exposure to the air. It was perceptibly curved ,.
and measured about six inches in diameter at the proximal end,
and about four inches at the distal end. The specimen is in the
museum of Augustana College, Rock Island.

Rock Island.— In laying the overflow pipe from basins of the
Rock Island water works on the bluff south of the city, a cut was
made in the loess to a depth of about twenty-two feet near the
edge of the bluff. In the lower part of this cut there was part of
a tooth of an elephant and also a piece of a bone of the leg.
The specimens were donated to the museum of Augustana College.
The loess, at the point in the bluff where the bones were found, is
about thirty-five feet thick, and the lower part of it is seen to be
somewhat peaty in some of the cuts in the streets to the west.

18 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

Rock Island. — In the excavations which were made on the
slope of the bluffs between Nineteenth and Twentieth streets in
Rock Island in 1897, Dr. J. A. Udden found a carpal bone of an
elephant. It was cuboid in form and measured some three or
four inches in diameter. It was found on the surface of the ground
in an excavation which was near the contact of the loess and the
boulder clay.

Rural township. — A well preserved tooth of a mastodon was
found in 1900 in a creek in the west half of section nineteen, town-
ship sixteen north, range one west (Rural township). The find
was made by Mr. A. Dhuyvetter, after a heavy rain which caused
high water in the creek. There are reports of other large bones
having been found in the same creek. The drift in this township
in places rests on pre-glacial gravels, consisting largely of chert.
The tooth was secured for the collection at Augustana College.

(The above four instances were reported by Dr. J. A. Udden.)

SANGAMON COUNTY.

Illiopolis a.nd Niantic. — In 1870, between Illiopolis and Nian-
tic, near the east line of the county, the jaws of a mastodon, with
teeth intact, both tusks, and several of the large bones were found
beneath a black mucky surface soil, four feet in depth. These
bones, together with some buffalo, elk, and deer, were imbedded in
quicksand, which probably once formed the bottom of a pool of
wrater to which these animals had resorted. The fossils now be-
long to the State Cabinet.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. V11I, p. 23.)

The Niantic mastodon was found on the farm of W. F. Corell,
in a wet, spongy piece of ground located in a swale or depression
of the surface that had evidently once been a pond and had been
filled up by the wash from the surrounding highland until it formed
a morass or quagmire in dry weather. The bones were about four
feet below the surface and partly imbedded in light gray quick-

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 19

sand filled with fresh-water shells. Above this quicksand was
found four feet of black peaty soil, so soft that a fence-rail could
easily be pushed down through it. The quicksand had evidently
once formed the bottom of a freshwater pond, fed probably by
springs, and was the resort of the animals whose bones were
found here.

The first bone met with was one of the tusks, and, supposing
it to be a small tree, it was cut in two with an axe before its true
character was suspected. The other tusk was taken out whole
and measured nine feet in length around the curve and about two
feet in circumference where it was inserted in the skull. The lower
jaw with the teeth in place arid the teeth of the upper jaw and
some of the smaller bones were also found in good state of preser-
vation. The depth of the quicksand was not fully ascertained,
but it was probed to the depth of two feet or more without reach-
ing solid bottom.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. V, p. SOS.)

The tooth of a mammoth was found some years ago, in the
bluffs of the Sangamon and near the surface and probably came
from beds not older than the loess.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. V, p. 308.}

VERMILION COUNTY.

Fairmount. — Forty-six years ago the remains of a mastodon
were found in loess, two miles southeast of Fairmount. The black
soil here is from one to two feet thick, and is underlaid by a light
brown, tenacious clay filled with calcareous shells of Limnea,
Physa, etc. Bones of a mastodon were found lying partly upon,
partly imbedded in this marly clay, the tip of one of the tusks
being within thirteen inches of the surface. The slough had been
mostly drained of late years, the air had permeated the bed and
pretty thoroughly decayed the bones, which were doubtless in
good state of preservation so long as constantly covered with
water. The parts were promiscuously mingled, showing that the

20 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

animal had not long been left to decay undisturbed. Marks of
gnawing upon a few of the bones give reason to suppose that the
water in which the carcass lay was so shallow as to give access to
carnivorous animals. Fragments are in possession of the Chicago

Academy of Science.

(Illinois Geological Survey, Vol. IV, p. 242.)

Dan ville.— Near the town of Danville, in the bluff forming the
tableland of the country, the following section was observed:

Soil— five feet.

Gravel, with bones of an elephant — eight feet.

Clay — two feet.

Fine washed sand reposing on rocks of coal measures — two
feet.

(Proceedings, American Association for the Advancement of Science,
Vol.X (185 ff), p. 103.)

- Hoopeston. — The tusks which were used in the restoration of
a skeleton of Mastodon americanus in the American Museum of
Natural History were found near Hoopeston in 1879.

(Report of State Paleontologist, New York, 1902, p. 920.)

East Lynn. — "The only mastodon bones ever found in this vi-
cinity were found while the workmen were digging a ditch on the
farm of a man named Guingrich at East Lynn, about twenty-four
years ago(1881). I have forgotten almost all the circumstances."

(Reported by Chnrles W. Warner, Hoopeston.)

WASHINGTON COUNTY.

Beaucoup. — According to Dr. Stevens, in an excavation along
the line of the Illinois Central railroad near Beaucoup, at the
depth of about eighteen feet were found the remains of a mastodon
in the prairie drift, below the yellow clay in the older or reddish
clay.

( Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science (1850), pp. 148—100.)

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 21

WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

New Milford.— In 1851 a large tooth of a mastodon was found,
in a fine state of preservation, in the Kishwaukee. It was drawn
up in a seine from near the mouth of the' river.

(Prof. S, P. Latbrop, in the American Journal of Science (2), XII, p. 439.

IOWA

ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.

Postville. — During the summer of 1904, Mr. Th6mas French
found four teeth, the lower jaw, and a portion of the vertebral
column of a mammoth sticking out of the bank of Yellow River,
where it cuts through his farm, four miles north of Postville. The
bank had caved away, exposing the bones, which lay on a gravel
bed. The teeth each measured about four and a half by eleven
inches and weighed thirteen and a half pounds. The remains are
all in an excellent state of preservation.

(Reported by Mr. Thomas French )

BENTON COUNTY.

Shellsburg.—I-n. 1903, Mr. J. Grubb, of Shellsburg, found a
mastodon tooth in the alluvium of Bear creek. A portion of a
rib was previously found near the same place.

(Reported by Assistant State Geologist T. E. Savage.}

Mr. J. A. Burns, who found the rib, reports further regarding
this find: "The tooth and rib were found on my farm in Benton
township. The tooth was about the size of an ordinary five or
six pound flatiron and was in a splendid state of preservation. It
is now in the possession of Mr. Grubb's son, near Kingsley, Iowa.
The rib measured about three feet in length. I gave it to a Cor-
nell, Iowa, student."

CEDAR COUNTY.

Several finely preserved mammoth teeth were found on the
farm of A. T. Whitnell, on the southeast quarter of the southeast
quarter of section six, Springfield township. These were found in a

26 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

washout in a small creek. Above the washout a bed of white allu-
vial clay is •overlain by gravels. In which of these the teeth oc-
curred is impossible to say. The teeth are in the museum of Cor-
nell College.

(Iowa Geological Survey, Vol. XIII, p. 377.)

Clarence. — Two small molars of a mammoth, in nearly perfect
state of preservation, were found in or on the Kansan drift in a
shallow creek six miles south of Clarence, and were presented to
the Museum of Cornell College. The grinding surface of the teeth

is slightly worn.

(Reported by Prof. Norton, Cornell College.)

CLINTON COUNTY.

Clinton. — The Davenport Academy of Science contains a mam-
moth tooth which was found near Clinton and donated to the

Museum by Mr. Thomas J. Frasier.

(Information from label on specimen.)

Clinton. — The Chicago Academy of Science contains:

a) The whole tusk of a mammoth, in poor state of preserva-
tion, which was found near Clinton in Iowa.

b) One molar of a mammoth, in good condition, also found
near Clinton and presented to the Museum by J. J. W. Foster.

(Both instances reported by Frank C. Baker, Curator, Chicago Acad-
emy of Science.)

DAVIS COUNTY.

Floris. — "In 1862 I found in the Des Moines river, near Floris,
two mastodon teeth, one weighing fourteen and the other four

pounds."

(Reported by Justus M. T. Myers, Fort Madison.)

' \

FAYETTE COUNTY.

Clermont. — Mr. C. E. Allen, of West Union, has a mastodon
tooth, which was found in the gravel pit near Clermont.

(Reported by Assistant State Geologist T. E. Savage.)

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 27

HENRY COUNTY.

Mt. Pleasant. — About ten years ago several teeth and bones
of a mastodon were exhumed in sinking a well on the poor-farm
at Mt. Pleasant. The remains were found in the Kansan drift or
immediately below this drift. I am not certain which. They are
in the Museum of the Iowa Wesleyan University at Mt. Pleasant.
(Reported by Assistant State Geologist T. E. Savage.)

Salem. — "I learned of the discovery of the remains of a masto-
don and what was said to be the tooth of an elephant (but more
probably mastodon), when at Salem in November, 1884, and vis-
ited the locality where they were found, but was unable to find
the man who had possession of the bones and tooth. The locality
is in the valley of Big Cedar creek in section eight, Salem town-
ship. The creek had at that time washed a channel into the bor-
der of an old bog, in which the fossils were imbedded."

(Reported by Frank Leverett, Ann Arbor, Mich.)

'•'Some years ago two teeth of a mastodon were brought me
by a couple of men to sell for them. They said they were dug up
near the bank of Skunk river, in Henry county."

(Reported by Dr. J. M. Shaffer, Keokuk, Iowa.)

JACKSON COUNTY.

Maquoketa. — The atlas and two vertebrae of an extinct pro-
boscidian were found near Maquoketa and presented to the Mu-
seum of Cornell College.

(Reported by Prof. Norton, Cornell College.)

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

Walnut creek.— In the bed of the creek, where it follows a
rocky cliff in the west half of the southwest quarter of section
twenty-eight, in Walnut township, Mr. Josia Bates some years
ago found the lower jaw of an E. americanus. Both molars were

28 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

well preserved, and the entire specimen weighed fifty pounds. To
what part of the drift it belongs is not evident.

(Iowa Geological Survey (Udden), Vol. XII, p. 428.)

LEE COUNTY.

Denmark.— "I saw a large leg bone of a mastodon a few years
ago at Denmark, which had been found in Lost Creek Valley in
section three or four, Washington township. I think the bone
belonged to Mr. Justus M. T. Myers, of Fort Madison."

(Reported by Frank Leverett, Ann Arbor, Mich.}

Concerning this find, Mr. Myers himself reports as follows:
"In 1898 I found in Lost Creek, Lee county, one leg bone, six
inches in diameter and nearly three feet long, * one of the short
ribs, eighteen inches of tusk, and two small pieces of bone of mas-
todon, all close together. Since then have looked the creek over
for miles, but have found nothing more. Associated with these
remains were one human leg bone and one flint arrow-head."

Montrose.— "In 1896 I found one molar of Elephas primige-
nius in a creek below Montrose, and the same year I also found in ,

Sugar Creek — The molar of another extinct elephant, which I

cannot determine."

(Reported by Justus M. T. Myers, Fort Madison.)

"Some years ago there was brought to me — to dispose of — a
fine fossil, the larger part of the pelvis — right side — of the masto-
don. The acetabulum and attached portions were perfect. Its
weight was nearly two hundred pounds (?). This specimen was
found on Skunk river, in Lee county."

(Reported by Dr. J. M. Shaffer, Keokuk, Iowa.)

LINN COUNTY-
/

Bertram.— Part of a tusk of a mastodon was found in a gravel
pit at Bertram and presented by S. C. Comstock to the Chicago
Academy of Science.

(Reported by Frank C. Baker, Curator, Chicago Academy of Science.)

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 29

SpringvUle, — The small molar of a mastodon and a large
crown of a mastodon molar were found in or on the lowan drift
near Springville, and presented to the Museum of Cornell College.

(Reported by Prof. Norton, Cornell College.)

LOUISA COUNTY.

Indian creek.— An elephant tooth was found in digging a shal-
low well in a small tributary to Indian creek, section twenty-
eight, township seventy-five north, range three west.

(Iowa, Geological Survey (Udden), Vol. XT, p. 110.)

Otter creek.— A tooth, the lower jaw, part of the pelvis, seve-
ral ribs, and a large piece of the tusk of an elephant were dug
from the bed of Otter creek near the center of the northwest quar-
ter of section twenty-five, township seventy-three north, range
four west. These and the above mentioned specimens were found
in what Udden thinks was Sangamon soil.

(Iowa Geological Survey (Udden), Vol. XI, p. 110.)

Albion.— A. large molar of a mammoth, in a perfect state of
preservation, was found in the Iowa river near Albion, and pre-
sented to the Museum of Cornell College. The grinding surface of
the tooth is well worn.

(Reported by Prof. Norton, Cornell College.)

MILLS COUNTY.

Glenwood.—"l read a paper on the Glenwood mammoth at
the Iowa Academy and had some correspondence concerning it.
It seems to have been a young one, as indicated by its size, the
imperfect ossification of its bones, and the presence of a simple
tooth in front of the molars of the upper jaw. I took measure-
ments and a sketch of the position of the bones, but I cannot at
present lay my hand on the paper. The bones were quite poorly

30 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

preserved. Some of them are in the museum at Tabor. The pe-
culiar simple tooth, which I took out myself, had about the form
as sketched. I do not have it at hand. The remains comprise a
dilapidated skull with tusks and teeth, several leg bones, but I
think only the ends of some of the latter, perhaps the head of a
humerus, are all that are at Tabor. The remains were five to
eight feet below the surface of the east slope of the cut north of
the railroad between Glenwood and Pacific Junction, not far from
Keg creek and north of the railroad. They were in the upper part
of the boulder clay below the loess. The deposits near them ap-
peared to be water laid, and were quite gravelly."

(Private communication from Prof. J. E Todd.)

Pacific Junction. — Some bones of an elephant or a mastodon
were unearthed near the base of the loess, while grading for the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad at the southernmost
point of the bluffs between Keg creek and the Missouri bottoms

east of Pacific Junction.

(Iowa Geological Survey, Vol. XIII, p. 170.)

Malvern. — Bones of a mammoth were exhumed from the lower
part of the loess in grading for the Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy railroad. The excavation was made in 1879 at the cross-
ing of First avenue and Railway street. There were three teeth,
part of a tusk, and two long bones.

(Iowa Geological Survey (Udden), Vol. XIII, p. 170.)

"A mammoth was unearthed when the Wabash railroad went
through Malvern, in a cut made just northeast of the crossing of
the Wabash and Burlington roads. Several teeth, tusk, vertebrae,
and ribs were taken out, and several of them are in the Museum
at Tabor. The tusk was eight or nine inches through and several
feet long. The vertebrae were dorsal and had the long spinous pro-
cesses on them. The teeth showed the typical americanus form."

(Extract from a letter by Prof. Todd.)

These notes probably refer to the same specimens as are re-
ported by Udden.

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 31

MUSCATINE COUNTY.

Wilton —In 1874, bones of a mastodon or mammoth were
found in the south bank of Mud creek, about half a mile south of
Wilton, at a point where the stream, coming from the north,
bends abruptly to the west. Measured from the water, the bank
at the time rose nearly thirty feet high. The several bones lay at
about the same level in the bank. The skeleton had evidently ar-
rived entire at the place, but it was dismembered and scattered
before it became finally imbedded. The deposits, containing the
skeleton, were modified drift, consisting of alternating strata of
very fine sand and clay. The fineness of this material, the regular-
stratification and absence of organic matter indicated that at the
time of the imbedding of the skeleton, the locality was covered
with comparatively deep, clear, and still water, "having nothing
of the character of a marsh, but rather resembling the bottom of
some wide lake or some large, slowly moving river." The topog-
raphy of the surrounding country and the nature of the drift itself
favored the idea that a lake at one time covered the territory of
the West Liberty plain and reached up to Wilton, and that sedi-
ments from some inflowing river had aided in filling the lake.
"Occasionally larger bodies, carried by some more powerful agen-
cy, found their way out to the deeper parts and became covered
up by the accumulating sediment." The evidence was conclusive
that the sediments containing the skeleton were laid down after
the ice had disappeared from the region. In the excavated skele-
ton the cranium and the cervical vertebra were missing, but of
the vertebrae there were exhumed nine dorsal, two sacral, and one
caudal; also thirteen ribs, one segment of the sternum, parts of
both innominate bones, one femur, the right tibia, a number of
the tarsal, rnetatarsal, and phalangeal bones, one patella, the
right scapula, the lower end of the humerus, and some carpal and
metacarpal bones. The right scapula was in a particularly per-
fect condition.

Measurements were taken as follows:

32 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

Scapula — Inches.

Length, from margin of glenoid cavity to superior angle 39

Width, from posterior angle to opposite border 28

Glenoid cavity, diameter 9%, 5%

Circumference of head 32%

Weight 51 % pounds.

Longest rib, on outer curve 52

Widest rib. across 4

Vertebra (first dorsal) —

Width and depth of centrum 5%

Across lateral process 11%

. Length of dorsal process 10

Height of neural arch 2%

Width of neural arch 2%

/ Eight tibia —

Length 35

Circumference at top 22%

Circumference at middle 10%

Humerus, circumference at lower end 37

(Iowa. Geological Purvey, Vol. IX, pp. 352—353.}

Mad creek. — About one mile from where it empties into the
Mississippi river, Mad creek has cut awaj7 the point of a hill, the
top of which is loess. This cut forms an almost perpendicular
bank, probably forty feet high. About ten feet from the top is a
bed of gravel, perhaps one foot thick. In this gravel bed, Mr. Joe
Freeman found a considerable fragment of an elephant tooth.

(F. M. Witter, Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. /,

part 2, p. 67.

/

Muscatine. — From the loess in the city of Muscatine, Professor
Witter has taken teeth, bones, and antlers of a species of caribou
or deer, and a tusk and teeth of a mammoth or mastodon.

(Iowa Geological Survey, Vol. IX, p. 360.)

PAGE COUNTY.

Blanchard. — Large bones which, from the description given,
must have belonged to the mastodon or mammoth, were found
fifty-four feet below the surface while digging a well at Blanchard,

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 33

in the Tarkio Valley. Evidences point to an ancient, filled and
only partly re-excavated water course.

(Iowa Geological Survey, Vol. XI, p. 413 )

Clannda.—in the valley of the Nodaway, near Clarinda, some
teeth of the mastodon have been found.

(Iowa Geological Survey (White], Vol. I, p. 353)

PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

Akron. — Very recently, in the vicinity of Akron, Professor
Todd has found elephant bones. These were in the drift.

(Iowa Geological Survey, Vol. X, p. 117.)

Professor Todd reports, concerning this find, as follows: ''The
teeth, tusk, and bone fragments found near Akron were in the up-
per part of the till, under loess. They were found in a well about
two miles east of Akron, and were in the possession of the finders
the last I knew. The teeth were those of a mastodon, much worn.
The length of the crown of one tooth I measured was nine inches,
and the breadth about three. The diameter of the tusk was about
three inches."

POLK COUNTY.

Avon. — A few years ago, workmen excavating in the gravel
pit at Avon unearthed numerous bones, among which were a
large tusk and other bones of some very large animal, either mas-
todon or mammoth. Unfortunately, no attempt to save the
bones was made, so they became broken and lost. The drift in
which these bones were found is post-Kansan — pre- Wisconsin (?)

in age.

(Reported by John L. Tilton, Simpson College.)

Polk City. — A perfectly preserved molar tooth of EJephas pri-
migenius was found in 1898 by a Chicago and Northwestern rail-
road employee at Polk City. The tooth occurred in the gravels
which occur at that place, and are evidently late Wisconsin in age.

34 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

"These finds are interesting in that it makes it reasonably certain
that these huge proboscidians roamed over these counties during
the late Wisconsin or even during post-glacial times."

(Iowa Geological Survey, Vol. IX, pp. 210—211.)

Raccoon ri ver.— The femur of a mammoth in good state of
preservation was taken from a sandbar of Raccoon river in Polk
county. Belongs to the Museum of Drake University.

(Reported by Prof. L. S. Ross, Drake University )

POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.

The bones of an -elephant are reported to have been found on
section thirty-four, apparently in the loess.

(Iowa Geological Survey (Udden), Vol. XI, p. 260.)

POWESHIEK COUNTY.

Grinnell. — "About the year 1884, in excavating for a cellar at
the corner of Main street and Fourth avenue, a tusk of a mam-
moth, together with a number of molar teeth and some fragments
of other bones, were uncovered. These remains are now in the
museum of Iowa College. Excavations in this same vicinity at an
earlier date had exposed fragments of undoubtedly the same ani-
mal. This last fall, in the excavation for another cellar, other
fragments were discovered, all, however, in a state beyond preser
vation, and mere small pieces. All the pieces found evidently be-
longed to a single individual. The geological formation in which
they occur is the loess. As I remember, the tusk was at a depth
of about six feet below the surface. The tusk is about seven feet
long and is in a fair state of preservation. The molar teeth are
also well preserved. The other pieces are so small that I do not
feel able to guess at their original location in the skeleton.

(Reported by Prof. W. H. Norris, Iowa College.)

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 35

SCOTT COUNTY.

Big Rock.— The Museum of the Davenport Academy of Science
contains a tooth of an E. primigenius, found near Big Rock and
donated by A. W. Manchester.

(Information from label on specimen.)

Blue Grass. — A portion of a skeleton of a mammoth was dis-
covered near Dr. Carpenter's residence (June 27, 1858), imbedded
in yellow clay and lying about ten feet below the surface of the
ground. This is not, however, its first discovery. In 1844, in
the same locality, the tusks were found, and, it is said, were
eleven feet in length. Some of the molar teeth were taken at the
same time and in almost perfect state of preservation, the enamel
being clearly discernible, as in the case of the one lately discovered.

"The tusks of the animal formerly unearthed were fully the
size mentioned, but they soon crumbled to pieces on exposure to
the atmosphere. The largest of the molar teeth was about four-
teen inches in length. It was exhumed in three pieces, and may
now be seen in an almost perfect state of preservation in our cabi- "
net, where also may be seen some of the bones, showing very per-
fectly their osseous formation and the kind of clay in which they

were imbedded."

(Editor Davenport Daily Gazette, June 30, 1858 )

Davenport.— A tusk, several molars, and some bones of the
mammoth were exhumed in the west part of the city. They were
found at the junction of the yellow and bluish clays, three feet
above the peat bed, indicating that the skeleton was deposited
after the blue stratum of the loess, the body having floated there
or the creature having waded in to his destruction. The specimen
is in the Davenport Academy of Science.

(Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Science, Vol. I, p. 98.)

Dr. C. A. White comments on this locality as follows: "Such of
these deposits (alluvium), as partake more of the character of
marsh accumulations are found in somewhat similar positions,

36 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

but all seem to have taken place at an earlier period in the process
of deepening the river valley. For example, one of these depos-
its occurs almost on the very brow of the bluffs that border the
valley of the Mississippi near Davenport. This example is one of
unusual interest, in consequence of the existence there of an ex-
tensive bed of ancient peat, which is covered to the depth of sev-
eral feet beneath the prairie soil, and the discovery, in the clay
above the peat, of the remains of a mammoth. The exposure was
made by the excavation for the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific
Railroad company, previous to which there was no appearance at
the surface to indicate anything more than the ordinary drift

deposit."

(Iowa Geological Survey (White), Vol. 1, p. 119.)

SHELBY COUNTY.

Defiance. — About 1890 H. B. Sooy came into possession of a
huge tusk of a mammoth or mastodon, which measured six feet
long and seven inches in diameter at the base and three and a half
inches at the tip. He kept it about four months, when it began
to crumble, and continued to do so, until all but about two feet
of the tip was destroyed. The tusk was found at the bottom of a
well on the bank of a small stream about three miles from Defi-
ance. Parties made search for the skeleton by boring close to the
old well, and came upon something resembling bone. They then
attempted to dig down to the skeleton, but as it lay below the
bed of the creek, water came into the hole so fast that the search
was abandoned, and no attempt has been made since to investi-
gate further.

(Reported by H. B. Sooy.)

STORY COUNTY.

In 1894, a mammoth was found on the farm of Dr. H. M.
Templeton. It was discovered while digging a well which was
being sunk in one of the numerous depressions in this part of the

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 37

country. This depression formerly contained a few feet of water,
and it still receives surface drainage in times of heavy rainfall.
The soil was composed of the washings from the surrounding
land and the remains of marsh vegetation characteristic of sim-
ilar surface conditions on the Wisconsin drift. When the digging
had proceeded to a depth of about four or five feet, a deposit of
bone fragments was discovered. This included the bodies of four
or five dorsal vertebrae, portion of one rib, a short section from
the lower end of the tibia, and the lower extremity of the left
femur, besides a number of fragments difficult to assign to their
exact location in the skeleton. The masses would about fill a half-
bushel basket. There were none of the long bones complete and
none of the pieces would give a very correct notion of the entire
length of any of these portions of the skeleton. The parts giving
the best idea of proportion are the vertebrae, the head of a rib,
in quite good state of preservation, and the lower extremity of
the femur. The vertebrae show both anterior and posterior ar-
ticular surfaces, in a perfect state of preservation. The transverse
and vertical measurements of these surfaces are nearly exactly the
same, four and one half inches. The antero-posterior diameter,
of the vertebral body, is exceedingly short, considering the im-
mensity of the other measurements. The length is but two-
and one-half inches. This must have given the creature a back
grotesquety short in comparison with its gigantic size. The artic-
ular facets on the inner surface of the head of the rib measure
three and one half inches. The excavations at the anterior and
posterior extremities of the vertebral bodies almost blend into one
another. The part giving the most correct notion of the enor-
mous size of the animal is the remains of the thigh bone. The
fragment represents a section from the lower end of the bone just
long enough to show the femoral trochlea and the two condyls.
These are almost perfect, with the exception that a small frag-
ment has been broken away from the external posterior part
of the external condyl. The internal condyl is in a perfect state
of preservation. The extreme length of the articular surface ex-

38 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

tending from the lower border to the external condyl to the upper
margin of the trochlear surface on which the patella glides is six-
teen inches. This mass is from eight to ten times the size of the
corresponding part of an average horse. All the parts are quite
firm and in such state of preservation that they have not in the
least been affected by exposure since their removal from the
ground. The conditions were such as to lead to the conclusion
that the bones could never have been buried to a greater depth
than that at which they were discovered. The superincumbent
covering must have been increasing in thickness rather than di-
minishing, on account of the process of gradual filling now going
on in these shallow prairie basins. A number of trial excavations
were made in different parts of the depression without unearthing
any additional portions of the skeleton.

(Iowa, Geological Survey, Vol IX, pp. 210—211.)

WARREN COUNTY.

Indianola. — "In June, 1903, workmen engaged in laying a ce-
ment foundation for a culvert on the Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy railroad, two and a half miles east of Indianola, found
large bones at a depth of six feet below the bottom of the draw or
ravine. The two fragments brought me are parts of the centra of
vertebrae, each about four inches across and two and a half
inches thick. There is also a fragment two inches long that seems
to be part of a rib. They were found in the Kansan drift. I do
not know whether these remains are of the mastodon or mam-
moth."

(Reported by John L. Til ton, Simpson College.)

WASHINGTON COUNTY,

Having observed some newspaper notices of large bones and
teeth found in Washington county, Iowa, by Mr. Jerry Hoppin,
we went down there on the eighteenth of July (1881), to see what
discoveries had been made. We found Mr. Hoppin's farm on sec-

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS. 39

tion fourteen, township twenty-two, range three, and made a
careful examination of the objects and the locality where they
were discovered. The remains consisted of the following teeth
and bones of Elephas primigenius, viz.; the two upper molars —
beautiful specimens, very well preserved and nearly black. The
grinding surface on each is eleven by four and three-fourths inches,
and the greatest depth of the tooth nine and one half inches. To
each of these teeth is attached a portion of the jaw-bone, sho wing-
also a part of the socket of the tusk.

A fragment of a tusk, thirty inches in length and twenty-one
inches in circumference. It is very much decomposed and falls to
pieces rapidly. A considerable quantity of finely broken frag-
ments was also found.

The atlas, absolutely perfect. The extreme width of this bone
is seventeen and one half inches; its anterior-posterior diameter,
nine inches: articulating surface, ten by four and one half inches.

Three other well preserved vertebrae, one cervical, one lumbar,
one uncertain, having an articulating surface of six and one half
inches in diameter.

The left scapula, from which a portion is broken off. Its ex-
treme length is thirty-four inches: greatest width of part pre-
served, twenty inches; articulating surface, nine and one half by
six inches.

One segment of sternum, very perfect. Its dimensions are:
length, eleven inches; depth, six and one half inches; and width,
four and one half inches.

Head of femur, of hemispherical form, seven and one half inch-
es in diameter.

A portion of humerus, thirty-six inches long, both extremities
wanting, and the whole much decayed and very fragile.

One fibula, quite perfect, twenty-seven and a half inches long.

Several fragments of ribs, one piece three feet in length, and
some of the pieces indicating the full length of a rib to be over five
feet. In addition, there were a* good many small and indetermin-

40 FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

able fragments, though it is possible that, upon a more extended
examination of the whole, the true place of them might be ascer-
tained.

These relics were discovered in a small stream, running
through the bottom land on the farm. The scapula was first found
by Mr. Hoppin's boys while bathing. They at first took it for a
piece of wood, but, upon discovering its true character, they made
search for more, and found several of the other bones within a few
feet of the same place. Mr. Hoppin then continued the search by
digging into the adjacent bank, and there found the teeth and
several of the other bones. All the bones were found within an
area of fifteen feet each way, in the black mud (sedimentary de-
posit, chiefly of vegetable mold with some clay), and about six
feet below the surface of the level ground.

(J. Gass, Proceedings, Davenport Academy of Science, Vol. Ill, pp.
177—178.)

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

41

FOSSIL MASTODON AND MAMMOTH REMAINS.

43

14 DAY USE

HOME USE

CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
MAIN LIBRARY

This book is due on the last date stamped below.
1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405.
6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books

to Circulation Desk.
Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior

to due date.

ALL BOOKS ARE SUBJECT TO RECALL 7 DAYS
AFTER DATE CHECKED OUT.

C/RC

2 fl 74

I U1976 44

APR 2 B 1977

__:

_2 9 1980 , 3

'

KEU7CIR.JW £D 78

LD 2 1 — A-4 Om-5 , ' 7 4
(R8191L)

General Library

University of California

Berkeley