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from the issue of December 15, 2005
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Group paves way for mammoth return
BY TROY FEDDERSON, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
The Nebraska titans are coming into public view.
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| | | TRAILSIDE - A fossil skeleton including bones from the "Clash of the Titans" mammoths stands in the Trailside Museum. A new exhibit will return the intertwined mammoths. Courtesy photo.
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Placed in the University of Nebraska State Museum collection for safe keeping and study over 40 years ago, a pair of interlocked Columbian mammoth skulls - the only fossil of their kind - will return to the Trailside Museum in Crawford, near where they were found in 1962.
"This fossil is something that means a lot to the people of Crawford," said Mike Liete, a professor of geosciences at Chadron State College and member of the Friends of the Prehistoric Prairie Discovery Center. "This return is something that the people have been waiting for since the mammoths went to Lincoln in 1962."
The push to return the mammoths to the Crawford area began nearly three years ago when - under the direction of Priscilla Grew, director of the State Museum - Mark Harris, associate director of the museum, contacted the Friends of the Prehistoric Prairie Discovery Center.
According to Harris, the friends had been working to erect a new building for the Trailside facility. However, their drive fell short of a multi-million dollar goal.
"I was extremely frank with them, and outlined our mutual goals" Harris said. "I told them that they had the money to make this possible and the museum did not."
After a year of discussion, the parties agreed to use the friends' money - coupled with $28,000 from the State of Nebraska (LB 309) for the installation a fire suppression system - to bring the mammoths back.
Prep work began on the exhibit in August. Members of the Pine Ridge Job Corps helped remove a stage and office areas, which will be the new home for a dig site simulating how the intertwined mammoth skulls and skeletons were found.
When the exhibit is complete, museum visitors will be able to walk around three sides of the dig site, getting a perspective on how the mammoths were discovered. And, a background mural by Mark Marcusen will showcase the local terrain and the battle between the two titans.
"When the exhibit is complete, visitors will be able to see these mammoths in death and life," Harris said. "I can't stress how amazing this exhibit will be."
When complete, Harris estimates a total construction cost - time not included - of $125,000 to $150,000.
GO TO: ISSUE OF DECEMBER 15
NEWS HEADLINES FOR DECEMBER 15
Titans Unwrapped
Brown begins titan unveiling
Faculty, staff, students to aid hurricane cleanup
Group paves way for mammoth return
Hunhoff to address graduates
FROM THE ARCHIVES
POINSETTIA ROUND-UP
Rec center offers exercise options for faculty, staff
Red Carpet Service can boost community image, tourism potential
University's teaching beef herd offers hands-on learning
732295S35301X
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