BIG BONE LICK
SOME IMPORTANT DATES
PREFACE
The following chronology was compiled from various sources. In some instances, different publications give different versions of the same "information". Hence, in some cases, the specific source of particular information given is indicated in the format (Jackson, 1962, p. 126); this means that the source is on page 126 in Jackson's 1962 publication, as cited in the bibliography web-page.
The chronology is, by no means, complete. If you note any errors, additions, or other changes that you feel should be made, please, let me know.
If you have any suggestions, corrections, or other comments, please, direct them to me.
R. A. Davis
Professor of Biology and Geology
College of Mount St. Joseph
5701 Delhi Road
Cincinnati, Ohio, 45233-1670
Note that Don Clare, of the Rabbit Hash Historical Society, has compiled a detailed Timeline of all sorts of events pertinent to Big Bone Kentucky. (Its URL is http://www.friendsofbigbone.org/Contents/timeline.htm)
CHRONOLOGY
|
1739 |
A contingent of French soldiers commanded by Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil were the first Europeans known to collect fossil bones and teeth at The Lick (Jillson, 1936, p. 3; the year sometimes is incorrectly stated to be 1729). [Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil (1687-1755) was the second Baron de Longueuil, a title created for his father, also called Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil (1656-1729).] |
|
1765 |
George Croghan, sent by the British to gain the support of the local American Indians, collected bones at Big Bone Lick. He was captured later by Indians, and the collection was lost. |
|
1766 |
George Croghan went back to the Lick for more fossils. He sent some to London, to Lord Shelburne (in charge of the American colonies) and to Benjamin Franklin. |
|
1767 |
Benjamin Franklin studied Groghan's finds and recognized them as being from extinct elephant-relatives, like those from Siberia (mammoths), but with different teeth (mastodons!) |
|
1778 |
Thomas Hutchins published a map in London, using the designation "Big Bones". |
|
1795 |
William Henry Harrison collected 13 hogsheads full of bones -- lost when boat capsized in Ohio. |
| about 1797 | A small collection of specimens from Big Bone Lick made its way into the hands of Thomas Jefferson. (Jillson, 1936, p. 36) |
|
1803 |
Dr. William Goforth of Cincinnati made a large collection at Big Bone Lick (Lewis, 1803; Jackson, 1962, p. 131-132). (Year given as 1804 by Jillson, 1936, p. 36.) |
| 1803 | Meriwether Lewis, in a letter from Cincinnati, dated 03 October, informed Thomas Jefferson that he and a crew just had visited Big Bone Lick and collected specimens (Jackson, 1962, p. 126-131). Unfortunately, the specimens were lost when the boat on which they were shipped sank at Natchez in the Spring of 1804 (Jackson, 1962, p. 132). |
|
1807 |
Thomas Jefferson sent William Clark (of Lewis-and-Clark fame) to collect at Big Bone Lick; some 300 bones were gathered. |
|
1808 |
Specimens collected by William Clark arrived in Washington to be studied by Jefferson and Dr. Caspar Wistar in the White House. |
|
1842 |
Charles Lyell, England's foremost geologist, and one of the founders of the science of geology as we know it, visited Big Bone Lick (Lyell, 1845, p. 62-68). |
|
1863 |
Nathanial Southgate Shaler, of Harvard, did extensive excavation at Big Bone. |
|
1960 |
Big Bone Lick State Park established on 2 July. |
|
1962-1966 |
Full-scale excavations conducted by a group mainly from the University of Nebraska (see C. Bertrand Schultz papers in the bibliography) |
|
1971 |
80 acres (32 hectares) of the area added to the National Register of Historic Places. |
| 2009 | Big Bone Lick designated a National Natural Landmark. |
ABOUT THIS WEB-PAGE -- Caveat lector !
This web-page was constructed using MS-FrontPage and its version of html. The results have been previewed by way of MS Internet Explorer. Unfortunately, things that look fine when viewed with Internet Explorer sometimes look rather peculiar when viewed with Netscape. For example, there can be unexpected and unpredictable changes in the size, shape, or style of type, or some combination of these. Moreover, sometimes different versions of Internet Explorer do not present the same web‑page in the same way; for example, hyphens in one version can mutate into empty rectangles in another. Alas!
2 November 1999; 3 May & 18 October 2000; 11 and 20 August 2003; 01 November 2008; 04 June 2009