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"Oro y Plata" - y Dinosaurs

By Carole Herdegen

While Latin is used in the mottos of many U.S. states, Montana is the only one to have its motto in Spanish, "Oro y Plata" (Gold and Silver). And, after my recent visit to this magnificent state, I have added, "y Dinosaurs".

Planning a family adventure vacation in the western United States must definitely include Montana. It will provide the ideal recipe for an exciting, enriching and "out of the ordinary" vacation that also offers the opportunity to search for dinosaur bones.

With the popularity of the movie, "Jurassic Park" and it sequels, plus the number of excellent and expanding dinosaur museums, interpretive centers and excavation sites, Montana has joined in addressing the growing public appeal. A partnership of regional, state and federal agencies and organizations including Travel Montana have designed a vacation road trip through "Big Sky Country" following the footsteps of dinosaurs. Why? Simply because Montana is one of the three most important sites in the world that contains vast numbers of dinosaur bones. Even today, important new discoveries are continuing to be made.

Montana's topography didn't always look like it does today with the Rocky Mountains on its western side and the rocky Badlands on its eastern border.
During the Cretaceous Period (145- 165 million years ago) this area was part of the subtropical coastal plain with a huge lake occupying much of the landmass east of the Rocky Mountains. Dinosaurs roamed the area. And one type of prehistoric animal, the Maiasaur, a duck-billed dinosaur, appeared in large herds, munching on the green leaves of vegetation. In fact, today, the Maiasaur is Montana's official state fossil.

After a series of eruptions in the mountains, everything changed in the subsequent millions of years. There continues to be much discussion as to if there was one momentous event that contributed to a complete climate change when the land became arid. Whether this was an instant happening or one that occurred over a long period of time, the question remains unanswered; however, whatever took place produced a total extinction of the dinosaurs some 68 million years ago. After that period, the earth pushed upwards thus increasing the height of the Rocky Mountains and creating the Badlands where the dinosaurs once roamed.


When you are visiting a dig site in eastern Montana, it is easy to identify the 65 million year old Cretaceous layer where bones and fossils are being found. This grayish-white layer is very near the top of the buttes. Over thousands of years of erosion, the bones and other fossils penetrate the surface and some fall to the ground below. However, can the visitor simply pick up a dinosaur bone and keep it? The answer depends upon where you are and if you have permission. Much of the central and eastern part of the state, including Indian land, is federal property managed by agencies such as the Forest Service, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Permits are required from these agencies before anyone is allowed to collect fossils. But if you happen to be on private land or are working with a paleontologist as part of a team on a dinosaur dig site, with the appropriate permissions, you may possibly keep a small number of bones that you find.

Montana with its beautiful mountains, rivers, and the buttes of the Badlands is our nation's fourth largest state. The Montana Dinosaur Trail Map shows all 13 designated sites on the state map along with important information including contacts and websites. Six of the 13 locations on the trail map are places where organized digs are taking place.

During my visit to the Big Sky Country, I stayed at the Makoshika Breaks Ranch, the first of two of my stops on the Dinosaur Trail offering field digs. Makoshika Breaks is a working cattle and horse ranch owned by Charles and Lois Ferguson. Guests of the ranch can participate in a real western lifestyle including trail riding on its fossil-laden property.What I loved about this ranch and why I believe discovering dinosaur bones here will become a very popular family activity is because of the philosophy of Jerry Jacene, the on-site paleontologist. With the permission of Jerry and the Ferguson's, visitors are allowed to keep some of the fossils they collect during their stay. Jerry believes that the relatively small number of fossils taken by guests will reap the benefits of promoting the study of paleontology. After all, visiting families have many contacts in their neighborhoods, schools and places of work to show their treasured fossils when they arrive back home.

After a night's sleep in the bunkhouse and an early cowboy breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs, guests have an opportunity to observe the morning routine of the cowboys. This might include rounding up the horses, roping, horse breaking and branding calves. Horse riding is also offered to the guests and is taught by the cowboys living on the ranch.

By mid-morning, the paleontologist is ready to take the first of two walks scheduled each day to known areas on the ranch land where it is highly possible to find dinosaur bones. Walking and talking is the approach Jerry uses on his dinosaur digs. The ideal age of the children in families is over 10 or 11. "Kids seem to know so much more about dinosaurs than their parents." Jerry says. "This is a great outdoor vacation for them".

Not far from the ranch in Hell Creek, many of the world's best known dinosaurs: T-Rex, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus and Hadrosaurs have been found. As you are walking, be prepared to be mentally transported to a time when dinosaurs ruled the earth. Enjoy the excitement when the first bone fossil is discovered on the trail.

If you are following the Montana Dinosaur Trail Map and would like to dig for three hours or perhaps one full day with a leading paleontologist, a stop at the Two Medicine Dinosaur Center in Bynum is the place for you. The Center has the world's largest full-size skeletal model of Seismosaurus halli, sometimes called "the earth-shaker lizard". It's important to see how these 23 feet tall, 137 feet long dinosaurs would have looked if they roamed the Montana Badlands today. In-depth courses in field paleontology are provided in the specially constructed fossil preparation laboratory. In his 10-day program, David Trexler, a paleontologist and the Center's owner, covers the subjects of discovery, collection and preservation.

Montana is a great place to combine a vacation and dinosaur-learning project for oneself or for a family with pre-teen and teenage children. New evidence is coming to light almost daily and new perceptions of dinosaurs will continue to emerge to challenge our present views. There is still a great deal to learn. For example, there continues the scientific debate as to whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded or cold-blooded creatures. Also, the ever present question of what caused the dinosaur's extinction.

In the May 2006 issue of Smithsonian Magazine, the article titled, "Dinosaur Shocker!" proves again that the field of paleontology is always coming up with new information and revolutionary theories. Paleontologist, Mary Schweitzer, amazed her colleagues when she announced that she had discovered blood vessels and structures that looked like whole cells in a Tyrannosaurus rex leg bone that had been buried in Montana for 68 million years. How could she account for this? After all, when an animal dies, over time the soft tissues such as blood vessels, muscle and skin decay and disappear, especially by the time a bone actually becomes fossilized. Mary has shown that even after millions of years, rock-hard fossils can still have the remains of soft tissues. She may finally have resolved the debate about whether dinosaurs are warm-blooded or cold-blooded and perhaps how their muscles and blood vessels worked. One reporter asked about whether DNA could also be found in the bone. Mary smiled, assuming the questioner was probing her about the possibility of regenerating dinosaurs like in the science-fiction movie, "Jurassic Park". However, DNA would not only be difficult, if not impossible, to extract and would also be easily contaminated. Her main study is attempting to extract the proteins from blood cells by looking for collagen, elastin and hemoglobin and not DNA. The two paleontologists I met in Montana informed me that Mary Schweitzer's blood cell work would be her life's work in her chosen field. She often reminisces about her time in the Montana's Badlands searching for dinosaur bones. "Paleontology by microscope is not as much fun." she says.

There is such a wide variety of things to see and do on Montana's Dinosaur Trail, my personal advice is "Don't just rent movies like "Jurassic Park", when you can almost re-live the experiences of yesteryear by exploring the dinosaur burial grounds of Montana."

Travel Information on Montana's Dinosaur Trail

Travel Montana: the official state travel information - features places to stay, road and weather conditions, event calendar and much more travel information.
Travel Montana
Department of Commerce
301 S. Park Ave.
Helena, Montana 59620-0533
Tel: 406-841-2870
Web Site: www.visitmt.com

Montana Dinosaur Trail Map
Web Site: www.mtdinotrail.org

Custer Country
PO Box 904
Forsyth, MT, 59327
Web Site: www.custer.visitmt.com

Russell Country
PO Box 3166
Great Falls, MT 59403-3166
Web Site: www.russell.visitmt.com

Makoshika Breaks Ranch
Charles & Lois Ferguson
R.R. #1 Box 2109
Wibaux, MT 59353
Tel: 406-687-3445
E-mail: information & reservations -
Web Site: www.makoshikabreaks.com

Paleontologist:
Jerry Jacene
Red Feather Fossil Excavations
Tel: 423-202-2688
E-mail:
Web Site: www.fossilhunterswanted.com

Two Medicine Dinosaur Center
David & Laurie Trexler
120 Second Ave. South
Bynum, Montana 59419
Tel: 406-469-2211 or 800-238-6873
E-mail:
Web Site: www.tmdinosaur.org
Paleontologist:
David Trexler
Tel: 800-238-6873 for information & programs

Smithsonian Magazine
May, 2006
Dinosaur Shocker! by Helen Fields
http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com.


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