Hunting Dinosaurs ~ Part 1

Excavating an Isolated Hadrosaur Humerus, Dinosaur Provincial Park.  2010 

Photograph courtesy of Dr. Philip Currie, University of Alberta.

“This treasure must be at once deposited where it can

be thoroughly investigated and properly understood.”

            The Pickwick Papers

           

            Dinosaurs fascinate people of all ages in all countries, and museums displaying  dinosaur skeletons continue to attract large numbers of visitors.  However,  it is not apparent to the casual visitor just how much work is behind these mounted wonders;  the work of finding them, digging them out of the ground, patiently chipping their brittle remains out of solid rock, studying them, publishing research, and finally mounting them in museum galleries where they may be viewed by the studious and curious.  Who does this work? What is their story? 

            The story of  the dinosaurs is closely associated with the story of the men and women who hunt and study dinosaurs, paleontologists, that small segment of society who never lost their childhood  fascination.  Their youthful interest in sharp teeth and blood-letting  gave  way to a matured interest in the dinosaurs as living animals, a part of our biological past.  By studying the rise, world domination, fall, and eventual demise of the dinosaurs, paleontologists not only learn about this single group, but also about their complex interactions with the world they inhabited.  Information gained from these inquiries is  helping us to understand the planet we occupy today, and just maybe how to avoid their same fate.

            The term Dinosauria [terrible lizards] was first published in 1842. Since then dozens of major expeditions, and hundreds of smaller ventures have discovered and excavated dinosaurs from every continent including Antarctica.  Much of what is written by paleontologists is  admittedly dry reading, published in professional journals with precise descriptions of new specimens.  These research papers are essential tools in recording and sharing discoveries, but the necessary jargon involved  limits  casual  reading.  Fortunately, some paleontologists have also applied themselves to writing books that are not just about dinosaurs, but about the people involved, their likes, dislikes, triumphs, failures, travels to exotic locales, and historical events.  These personal stories offer readers not only a valuable perspective on science, but contain fascinating  reading in natural and human history.

Charles H. Sternberg

            Early this century, the pioneer work of two men, Charles H. Sternberg [1850 - 1943, and Barnum Brown [1873 - 1963], began a period of North American dinosaur collecting known as the “Great Dinosaur Rush.”  Now almost impossible to obtain, Sternberg’s privately printed The Life Of A Fossil Hunter, and Hunting Dinosaurs In The Badlands Of The Red Deer River, Alberta, Canada, are the classic early accounts of dinosaur hunting that chronicle not only the development of dinosaur hunting in  North America, but also the opening of the West to settlers. 

            Sternberg began collecting fossils as a youth during the 1860’s, and by 1876 was employed by America’s great vertebrate paleontologist, Edward Drinker Cope.  This was a formative time when dinosaurs were poorly known, methods of excavation were crude, and the U.S. Cavalry was still  fighting  protracted skirmishes with Native Americans.  During his first summer in Montana, Sternberg and his team narrowly avoided an encounter with Sioux warriors who had just defeated Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Barnum Brown in Alberta, Canada.

            Working in friendly competition with Sternberg, who in 1912 was working for the Geological Survey of Canada,  Barnum Brown explored the Red Deer River Canyons for the American Museum of Natural History.  Notable among few accounts in Brown’s own words is,  Hunting Big Game Of Other Days, a National Geographic article about his  expeditions into the Badlands of Alberta, Canada.  During a sixty-six year career at the American Museum of Natural History, Barnum Brown excavated more dinosaurs than anyone, worked in almost every area of the globe, traveled on every form of transport except by submarine, but never found time to write his own autobiography. 

            Fortunately, Brown’s industrious life was recorded by his second wife, Lilian Brown.  I Married A Dinosaur,  and Bring ‘Em Back Petrified,  are two witty accounts of her life, including a  honeymoon spent collecting fossils in the Siwalik Hills of Pakistan, with “Dr. Bones”.

American Museum Crew Excavates a Centrosaurus Skeleton in Alberta, Canada. 1915

            North America and Europe were not the only areas being explored for dinosaurs early this century.  Tendaguru is a remarkable deposit located near Lindi, Tanzania, once  part of German East Africa.  First discovered and excavated by German scientists from 1909 - 1913,  it revealed unusual new animals such as the apartment building-sized plant-eater Brachiosaurus.  Mandated to Great Britain after the first world war, expeditions by British scientists, including a convalescing future anthropologist Louis Leakey, continued the discoveries at Tendaguru. 

            The Dinosaur In East Africa,  by John Parkinson also offers interesting reading for those not ordinarily interested in dinosaurs.  Extreme geographic isolation, poisonous snakes, disease bearing insects, predatory leopards, malaria, and primitive living conditions are but a few of many distractions encountered by the British.  

            Even though the Central Asiatic Expeditions opened exciting new fossil fields in Asia, the Depression, and World War II dried up funding for dinosaur hunting,  and it was not until the late 1940’s that excavations began again in earnest, this time led by the Soviet Union.

            Hunting For Dinosaurs, written by the female leader of three Polish expeditions, Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska,  remains the only English language first hand account of Soviet work in Mongolia.  Kielan-Jaworowska describes in  detail the previous work of Russian expeditions, and the success with which her own expeditions discovered important new dinosaurs.

            The expeditions entered areas that no other team had risked before, and were handsomely rewarded with numerous discoveries that contributed substantially to paleontology.  Little had changed in forty years since the Gobi had first yielded dinosaurs, conditions were as  primitive, food  and water were still scarce, and maps were no more accurate.  Hunting For Dinosaurs is also an unintentional record of a Mongolia that no longer exists, a Mongolia before Pepsi, German hunting lodges, and Japanese golf courses.

Rolling Verdant Grasslands of Outer Mongolia.  Photograph by Clive Coy.

How Dodge Put The "Go" In Gobi Part 2

            Despite the ease with which the work in Mongolia began, the expedition had yet to rendezvous with the camel caravan, and establish if resupply by camel was feasible over great distances.

            While Granger continued searching for fossils, Andrews and the rest of the expedition set off on a 400 kilometer journey to the meet the caravan.  Andrews feared that it might be attacked by bandits, or lost in the desert.  To their great relief, the caravan was waiting.  All seventy-five camels with intact supplies had arrived a full hour before the cars.

            Using this leap-frog technique enabled the expedition to cover more than ten-thousand miles during 1922 and 1923, far more than Andrews had originally thought possible.   Overburdened with equipment, specimens, and staff, the Dodge cars had performed heroically, exceeding all previous expectations.

Crossing The Ongin River.            

Once, while returning to China,  Andrews and his passengers discovered that their oil had leaked out of its cans.  It would be impossible to go much further, but as they were debating what to do, they came upon a Mongol encampment.  Knowing that the herdsman would have sheep, and mutton fat, Andrews queried “why not use that for oil!”

            An obliging herdsman soon had a great pot of  mutton fat warming over a fire.  When it was liquefied, “We poured it into the motor and proceeded merrily on our way.”  The Dodge did not notice the change in diet, but there was one serious obstacle to the enjoyment of its passengers.  “We had had very little food for some time and were very hungry...”  As their engine warmed up, “a most tantalizing odor of roast lamb arose from the car!”,  and Andrews imagined he could smell mint sauce.

Showroom Brochure. Dodge Brothers. 1925

            Similarly, the expedition once found itself without cup grease for the cars.  Cold cream and Vaseline that had been prepared for the summer was sacrificed, Mongol cheese was also substituted, apparently with good results.

            By the end of the second field season, the Dodges had given a Herculean performance without any major mechanical problems.  However, it was felt that it would be safer to retire them and purchase new ones for the next field season. 

            The well-traveled Dodges were sold as they stood, to Chinese importers of wool and furs from Mongolia.  Remarkably, they sold for more than they were worth new.  “After all,”  Andrews records the buyers saying, “we know these cars can do the job because they’ve already been there.  Perhaps new ones won’t be as good.”

            Returning to New York to raise additional funds, Andrews barely arrived at the museum before a representative of Dodge Brothers called on him.  Dodge was delighted with the news coverage their cars were receiving, and realized it was priceless advertising.  Dodge Brothers wanted to be a sponsor.

Centerfold of Showroom Brochure.  Dodge Brothers 1925

            “I’ll play ball,”  said Andrews, “if you’ll give us a new fleet of cars, made to our specifications.”  Two years of work had shown where the cars needed changes - all in the body, and none in the motor.  “I need eight new cars,”  Andrews went on, and “[Dodge]  jumped at the suggestion like a trout taking a fly.” 

             Colgate and Andrews went to Detroit to see Fred Haynes, then president of Dodge Brothers.  Haynes’ greeting was “Now gentleman, Dodge Brothers employs twenty thousand men.  You tell us what you want and we’ll build it.”

            Colgate knew exactly what was required.  Seven of the new cars were to be an open express body with eight-inch sides of heavy screen wire.  Springs, both front and rear, were made heavier than commercial cars.  In addition, on each rear spring, inside, were iron bumpers lined with pieces of heavy tire, to give a heavily loaded car additional support, and leather snubbers were installed to prevent wild rebounds. 

            Gasoline tanks were increased to twenty-one gallons, four strong hooks were bolted onto the chassis member to aid pulling out of mud and sand, and each car was given two complete spare wheels, mounted either side of the driver’s seat. 

            The eighth vehicle was an ordinary five-passenger touring body.  This lightest member of the fleet would be used during advance reconnaissance.

            The Gobi savaged ordinary tires, but Dodge provided the relatively new 33 X 4.5 Royal Cord.  Balloon-type tires had not proven practical.  Although they held a car up better in sand, they increased fuel consumption, and were easily cut by stones.

            Dodge’s support saved the expedition about fifty thousand dollars.  In return, Dodge Brothers used images of the expedition vehicles, with quotes from Andrews, in advertising brochures, calendars, and magazine ads.  Andrews later speculated that the expedition’s endorsement sold thousands of cars for Dodge.      

Sales Brochure April 1937

            Equipped with the new fleet of Dodge Brothers cars, the expedition worked in the Gobi during 1925, 1928, and 1930, and continued to make major scientific findings that established Asia as an important dispersal centre of animal life. 

            They uncovered 20,000 - year old stone tools, evidence that the Gobi had been inhabited by people who may have migrated to North America.  Their geological findings confirmed that Outer Mongolia had never been glaciated and was the oldest area on earth of continuously dry land.  

Expedition Vehicles at Headquarters, Peking [Beijing] 1928

            The most spectacular discovery, for which Andrews and the expeditions became world-famous, was of three nests containing two dozen dinosaur eggs, the first recorded by science.  The nine-inch-long eggs were nearly perfectly preserved. 

            During the late twenties, Asia grew restless, and field work in the Gobi became dangerous.  Civil war, banditry, and the actions of  Imperial Japan in China made exploration after 1930 impossible. 

            Roy Chapman Andrews never returned to the Gobi Desert, but did continue his relationship with Dodge after it was sold to Walter Chrysler.  He remained a popular and widely recognized spokesman into the late 1930’s.

National Geographic.  March 1936

            Dodge’s positive experience with the Central Asiatic Expeditions began an era of similar sponsorships.  In the 1930's Chrysler Corporation sponsored expeditions by other explorers such as Armand Denis and Lisa Roosevelt.  Their "Wheels Across Africa" , and "East of  Bombay” documentaries showcase Dodge Power Wagons and Sedans prevailing over impossible terrain, and demonstrated that Dodge’s were “Reliable, Dependable, Sound” as ever.

Collecting Roy Chapman Andrews Part 3

Typical Gobi road, Outer Mongolia.  Photo by Clive Coy.

Mongolia had captivated Andrews, and he became obsessed with the idea of exploring the largely unmapped and mysterious country for the scientific treasures he was sure were buried there.  Despite critics who said that he might as well search the bottom of the ocean, Andrews together with palaeontologist Walter Granger, led five major expeditions in 1922, 1923, 1925, 1928, and 1930  to Northern China and Mongolia, which were commonly referred to as the Third Central Asiatic Expeditions.  The C.A.E.  heralded a new type of multidisciplinary exploration, with  representatives from eight fields of investigation: geography, topography, geology, palaeontology, zoology, archaeology, paleobotany, and herpetology.  These expeditions were the largest non-military ventures to leave the United States until that time; often operating with forty scientists and technicians, eight motorcars, and 150 camels.

Third Asiatic Expedition's Vehicles : 
The original unmodified Dodge Touring Cars, 
and Fulton One Ton Trucks

            Although the expeditions did not discover  early humans, they made major scientific findings that established Asia as one of the chief dispersal centres of animal life.  They uncovered implements dating back 20,000 years, evidence that the Gobi had been inhabited by people who may have later migrated to China, Siberia, and North America.  Their geological findings confirmed that Outer Mongolia had never been glaciated and was the oldest area on earth of continuously dry land.   The rich fossil fields that they discovered produced the first evidence of dinosaurs in Asia north of the Himalayas.  They yielded specimens of  tiny early mammals; the largest mammalian carnivore; skulls and other fragments of the largest mammal known to have existed on land; and  a genus of rhinoceros called Baluchitherium, which lived about thirty million years ago, stood eighteen feet high, and weighed twenty tons.

            The most spectacular discovery, for which Andrews and the expeditions became world-famous, was of three nests containing two dozen dinosaur eggs, the first recorded by science.  Discovered in the Gobi in 1923 and pictured in newspapers and magazines around the world, the nine-inch-long eggs had been nearly perfectly preserved. 

Original 1923 Photograph of Dinosaur Eggs found by George Olsen at Flaming Cliffs locality [Byan Dzag] 
Photo: James Barnes Shackelford, Expedition photographer.

  

            Popular culture has incorrectly attributed Andrews as discovering the eggs.  It was in fact technician George Olsen, an error that Andrews himself was always quick to correct in his books, and lectures.  Nonetheless,  Andrews was responsible for much of the success of  the logistical work and fund raising for these expeditions.  He conceived them, raised the funds, led them through the perils of banditry in Mongolia, revolution and civil war in China; and was adept at obtaining publicity, and achieving prompt publication of findings. Andrews wrote the preponderance of popular literature about the expeditions, but always shared the credit for its success with all members of the expedition. 

            Public demand for information about the expeditions was nearing hysteria by the mid 1920’s.  Newspaper reporters mobbed the ship when members of the expedition returned to New York via San Francisco between expeditions.  Offers reaching thousands of dollars were made for exclusive rights to pictures and stories, but Andrews refused them all, freely giving interviews to as many reporters as he and his staff could schedule.  However, one publisher did have first rights for magazine stories by Andrews, and all photographs taken by the expedition; an incredible arrangement agreed to in the early years of fund raising. 

            Asia Magazine, the official publication of the American Asiatic Association,  was the premiere American magazine devoted to an area that in the 20’s  overshadowed Europe as a popular travel destination.  Catering to wealthy travellers, Asia Magazine reached its zenith during the late 1920’s,  publishing articles by authors such as Pearl S. Buck, and Franklin D. Roosevelt; with cover art  by Frank M. McIntosh.  Liberally illustrated with photographs fresh from the expeditions’ cameras,  Andrews published a total of 25  lengthy articles between 1918 and 1926.  These articles detailed the triumphs and tribulations of the expedition; but most importantly allowed Andrews to reach his prime target audience, the wealthy elite with disposable money to fund such grand adventures. 

Dust jacket of First Edition. G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1926

            By 1926 Andrews was deluged with letters from the public requesting a collected account of the expedition’s activities to date.   On The Trail Of Ancient Man was published as a popular narrative in direct response to these requests.  Much of the text of the book was written on the spot and preserves the atmosphere and excitement of the expedition that was pushing beyond the boundaries of contemporary exploration.  An examination of Andrews original field diaries revealed that in the early years his daily entries are sketchy reference notes; but by 1923 the entries have become volumous detailed narratives that required only minor polishing before becoming magazine articles and book chapters.  On The Trail Of Ancient Man also marked the beginning of Andrews’ association with G.P. Putnam’s Sons, a relationship that produced a total of  six books by 1940.  

Reprint.  Undated [Circa 1930] Garden City Publishing Co., Inc.