Dinosaur National Monument records
Collection
Identifier: ACCN 0981
Scope and Contents
The Dinosaur National Monument records (1925-1992) contain correspondence, charts, maps, a petition, wilderness studies, and public comments concerning various aspects of the Monument. In the 1970s there were two major movements: the first was to make some of the Monument a wilderness area while the second movement involved making the Monument a National Park. While both of these movements failed their objectives, they are documented in the collection. Notes on the discovery of dinosaur bones by University of Utah professor Frederick Pack are also contained in the collection.
Dates
- 1925-1992
Creator
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Conditions Governing Use
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.
Biographical / Historical
The Dinosaur National Monument was created in 1915, six years after an amazing collection of dinosaur bones was discovered in a rockface near Vernal, Utah. The man who discovered the site was Earl Douglass who worked for the Carnegie Musuem in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He was among a group of men involved in a "dinosaur rush" where paleontologists competed with one another to discover and name the most dinosaurs. What distingushed the rockface that Douglass discovered was the abundance of dinosaur fossils. According to the geological record, the area that makes up the current site was once a waterhole that many dinosaurs flocked to. Over time the waterhole dried up and the dinosaurs in the area died of thirst. Many years later the waterhole reappeared and the dinosaurs returned, only to die once again when the area dried up again. Through this process a large concentration of dinosaurs became located at the site Douglass would discover millions of years later. While many fossils from the rockface rest in museums around the country, there are still more that rest in the rocks of Utah. The rockface was expaned by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s and in 1957, a visitor's center was built on top of the rockface. The Visitor's Center was an attempt to showcase the rockface and the position of fossils in it. Unfortunately, by its very nature, the Visitor's Center was built on unstable soil and in 2006 it was deemed a risk to park visitors and staff. Although the Visitor's Center closed to park visitors, a virtual tour of the rockface was made available over the internet. The rest of Dinosaur National Monument stayed open and contains many areas of scenic beauty.
Extent
1 Box (0.25 linear feet)
Abstract
The Dinosaur National Monument records (1925-1992) contain correspondence, wilderness studies, public hearing comments, a petition, maps, and charts.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Robert S. Waite in 1994.
Processing Information
Processed by Ned Creed in 1997.
Creator
- Title
- Inventory of the Dinosaur National Monument records, 1925-1992
- Author
- Finding aid created by Ned Creed
- Date
- © 1997 (last modified: 2019)
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.
Repository Details
Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository
Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu