You can still touch dinosaur bones embedded in this ancient Utah rock wall

Earl Douglass’s 1909 Apatosaurus Discovery in Utah

Earl Douglass hit pay dirt on August 17, 1909. The paleontologist spotted eight Apatosaurus tail bones jutting from a Utah ridge while hunting fossils for Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum.

He called it “a beautiful sight” in his journal. Soon, locals rushed to see this wonder, and the dig grew into a massive operation.

Over the next 15 years, workers shipped more than 700,000 pounds of fossils to Pittsburgh, including 20 complete dinosaur skeletons. Though museum bosses wanted to keep digging, Douglass pushed back.

Thanks to him, President Wilson created Dinosaur National Monument in 1915, where today visitors can touch actual dinosaur bones still embedded in the ancient rock wall.

Bones Sticking Out of a Hill Changed Dinosaur History

Earl Douglass spotted something odd while hunting for fossils near Vernal, Utah on August 17, 1909.

The fossil hunter from Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum found eight tail bones of an Apatosaurus sticking out of a sandstone hill.

He wrote in his journal that the bones were “a beautiful sight” and “by far the best looking dinosaur prospect I have ever found.”

This find kicked off one of North America’s most important dinosaur digs and changed how people connect with prehistoric creatures.

Locals Flocked to See the Giant Bones

Work began right away as Douglass carefully removed rock to uncover more of the skeleton. News spread quickly through nearby towns.

Within days, curious folks traveled to the remote spot to see the action.

Douglass wrote on August 22 that rocks which “never had the impress of a woman’s foot” now “swarmed with people of all ages.”

The team soon realized they had found the most complete Apatosaurus skeleton ever, but this was just the start.

A Family Made Their Home Among Dinosaurs

Pearl Douglass and the couple’s one-year-old son Gawin joined Earl at the quarry in September 1909. The family built a ranch near the dig site where they lived for the next 14 years.

They created a cozy home life while surrounded by one of history’s biggest fossil hunts. Pearl helped with many parts of the work, including keeping records and running the growing site.

Their son grew up with dinosaur bones as his playground.

One Skeleton Turned Into a Prehistoric Graveyard

As the team dug deeper, they made an amazing find. The site held many dinosaurs, not just one.

The sandstone layer showed signs of an old river where numerous dinosaur remains had washed together and turned to stone. Multiple types lay jumbled and stacked on top of each other.

The bone bed stretched much farther than anyone first thought.

Carnegie Museum officials couldn’t believe their luck when they heard about all the fossils packed into the quarry.

Tons of Fossils Headed East on Trains

The huge dig sent more than 700,000 pounds of fossil material to Pittsburgh by 1922. Workers wrapped nearly 20 complete dinosaur skeletons in plaster jackets for the long trip east.

Each shipment faced a tough path from the remote Utah site.

Horse teams pulled heavy wagons loaded with the precious cargo across rough land to reach the nearest railroad. The fossils then traveled by train to their new home at the Carnegie Museum.

Museum Boss Wanted to Keep the Bones Private

William Holland, the Carnegie Museum director, saw the quarry as a gold mine for science that should stay private for research. He fought against sharing the site with other museums or the public.

But Douglass felt differently. After years working in the quarry, he started pushing to save part of the site for everyone to enjoy. This created tension between the two men.

Holland wanted all the fossils for his museum, while Douglass wanted a place where regular people could learn about dinosaurs.

The President Saved the Dinosaur Quarry

Douglass’s idea to protect the site gained support from government officials who saw its value.

His dream came true when President Woodrow Wilson signed a paper on October 4, 1915, creating Dinosaur National Monument. The new monument protected 80 acres with the fossil-rich quarry.

This marked the first time the U.S. government set aside land just to save fossils. The decision made sure future generations could learn from this remarkable site.

From Private Dig to Public Treasure

The Carnegie Museum kept working at the site until 1923, when they finally finished their digging. Control then fully shifted to the National Park Service, which started planning how to show the quarry to visitors.

Douglass stayed involved during this change, helping guide the site’s new caretakers. His dream of creating a place where everyone could see dinosaur fossils in their original setting slowly took shape.

Douglass Wanted Visitors to See Bones in the Rock

Instead of taking out every fossil, Douglass suggested leaving many stuck in the rock wall. This fresh idea would let people see the bones exactly as fossil hunters found them.

Engineers and scientists worked together to design a building that would protect the fossil wall while making it easy for visitors to see.

The plan changed how museums showed fossils, focusing on showing where they were found rather than just isolated bones in glass cases.

A Building With a Wall of Dinosaur Bones

The Quarry Visitor Center finally opened in 1957, long after Douglass had died. Workers built the building around the rock face, which held about 1,500 visible bones.

Visitors could now walk up close to see real dinosaur remains still stuck in the original sandstone. The exhibit brought Douglass’s vision to life, creating a place where science and public learning came together.

People could now feel the thrill of finding fossils that Douglass felt back in 1909.

The Dinosaur Wall Still Amazes Visitors Today

The quarry has given up fossils from 11 different dinosaur species that lived during the late Jurassic period about 150 million years ago.

Douglass’s work changed both how scientists study dinosaurs and how regular folks connect with these ancient creatures.

The site remains one of the best places in the world to see dinosaur bones still in their original rock.

Modern paleontologists continue to study the rich collection of fossils that Douglass first spotted poking out of a Utah hillside over a century ago.

Visiting Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado

You can visit Dinosaur National Monument 7 miles north of Jensen, Utah off Highway 149 to see where Earl Douglass found that famous Apatosaurus skeleton in 1909. The entrance fee is $25 per vehicle for 7 days.

Hours are 9am-5pm daily, with longer summer hours and shorter winter ones. Shuttles run every 15 minutes during busy times, or drive yourself before 9:15am in summer.

Note it’s closed for construction September 8-October 31, 2025.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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