Report of Earl Douglass to the Director of the Carnegie Museum



Previous to starting for the west on the 24th of June 1909, the greater part of my time was employed in removing from the matrix the remains of Uinta mammals and turtles which had been collected the previous year. The collection as it was made available for study proved to be of unexpected interest: Prof. Osborn was especially anxious that descriptions of the Titanotheres be published so that results might be incorporated in his Monograph on the Titanotheres. With the aid and consent of Dr. Wm. J. Holland I therefore went to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and with the aid of Mr. Gregory made comparisons of the Titanotheres from the uinta in the Carnegie Museum collections with those of the Amer. Museum of Nat. Hist. It was found that the specimens in the two museums were not alike so a short preliminary paper was published (Nov. 6, 1909):

Preliminary Descriptions of Some New Titanotheres from the Uinta Deposits.

Other papers were revised and published as follows:

A Description of a New Species of Procamelus from the Upper Miocene of Montana with notes on Procamelus Madisonensis Douglass. (Apr. 12, 1909)

A Geological Reconnaisance [sic] in North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho; With Notes on Mesozoic and Cenozoic Geology. (May 7, 1909)

Dromomeryx, A New Genus of American Ruminants. (Aug. 17, 1909)

Some work was done in cataloguing and arranging collections but there was not much time for this as scarcity of "help" in the laboratory necessitated my working there or having the valuable collections from the Uinta untouched and, to a great extent unknown.

After arriving in the region of the Rocky Mountains my first important discovery was that of a new locality of Wasatch Mammals -- a thing greatly to be desired. I made a small but interesting collection, and became convinced that valuable and much-needed collections could be made here.

It was necessary, however, that I have my return ticket signed by the agent at Grand Junction, and my camping-outfit was at Bonanza on the line of the Uinta R.R. As it was important that the Uinta Deposits be further explored I went to Myton and spent several days in exploring the bad lands southeast of there, west of the Green River and south of the Du Chesne River. The beds are similar in some respects to those East of the Green River, but differ in other particulars. So far as seen they are less fossiliferous though probably in some localities good collections could be made, but it was found especially desirable that the work of the previous year be continued farther to the westward. Orders from the director of the museum however, caused at least a temporary change of plans, and I immediately came to the region of Green River, East of Vernal and began a search for Dinosaurs.

On the 17th of August I discovered a portion of the tail of a large Dinosaur which bade fair to be part of a nearly complete skeleton. After digging for some time the prospect seemed more favorable. At that time of the year it was very difficult to get good men but by Sept. 2 we began work in earnest with three men besides myself and a team. With these men and team I have continued work to the present. In excavating portions of two other skeletons -- a small and an extremely large one -- were found intimately associated with the first. Other portions of skeletons were found in other places. The discovery of skeletons in the main quarry necessitated expanding the work, running a large cut etc. This work was successfully carried on during Dec. Jan & Feb. Now, March 10th, work has been resumed at the skeletons themselves and new discoveries have been made.

Besides the work at the "diggings" themselves a great amount of other work such as building roads and trails, establishing a new camp &c have had to be done. As the work progress the prospect brightens, though the sense of the magnitude of the work increases.



Earl Douglass

Jensen, Utah

March 10, 1910