G.A.S.P.

(Great Adventures to Scenic Places)

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ July 1 ] [ July 2 ] [ July 3 ] [ July 4 ] [ July 5 ] [ July 6 ] [ July 7 ] [ July 8 ] [ July 9 ] [ July 10 ] [ July 11 ] [ July 12 ] [ July 13 ] [ July 14 ] [ July 15 ] [ July 16 ] [ July 17 ] [ July 18 ] [ July 19 ] [ July 20 ] [ July 21 ] [ July 22 ] [ July 23 ] [ July 24 ] [ July 25 ] [ July 26 ] [ July 27 ] [ July 28 ] [ July 29 ] [ July 30 ] [ July 31 ]

July 2, 1999

Click on thumbnails to see full photographs	On July 2, I rode south from Harrison to the Agate Fossil Beds, a National Monument. Here 20 million years ago, many mammals died over a short period of time at a water hole as draught slowly caused starvation. This was a prairie environment back then too, and occasionally the rains did not come often enough to support growth of the prairie grass. The fossils are mostly those of pony size rhinoceroses that lived in Nebraska way back then. Following discovery of the site in the early part of this century, much fossil recovery was done by major museums of the day including the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh. Reportedly, fossils from this site are in major museums around the world.
	The Agate Fossil Beds National Monument also includes an outstanding collection of Indian artifacts collected by James Cook, who was a true and trusted friend to the Lakota Indians, as especially Chief Red Cloud, for more than thirty years. The Indians bestowed many special gifts upon him including ceremonial clothing, personal tools and utensils and even a war club that had been taken into battle by a Sioux Chief.
	As a rode south all day from Harrison, I greatly admired the beauty of the Nebraska prairie land. It made me feel somewhat like a sodbuster. I could often see scattered groups of black specs in the distance that I knew to be Black Angus cattle.

Copyright © 1999 - 2000 PBS 45 & 49
All rights reserved.
E-mail questions or comments to web editor, webmaster@wneo.pbs.org
This page was last updated on 10/24/02.