The irony of America’s first fossil site sitting near the Creation Museum

Jefferson’s Big Bone Lick Fossil Hunt with Clark

In 1807, Thomas Jefferson sent William Clark on a hunt – not for new lands, but for old bones. Clark showed up at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky with his brother, slave York, and ten hired men.

The first two weeks were a bust. Then luck struck.

His team dug up over 300 Ice Age bones and teeth that soon filled White House rooms for study. Jefferson paid $199. 66 from his own pocket for this work and later sent bones to France, Monticello, and Philadelphia.

The site where America’s first real fossil dig took place sits just miles from today’s Creation Museum, where you can see the story of these groundbreaking discoveries.

Jefferson Paid From His Own Pocket For America’s First Fossil Hunt

Thomas Jefferson wrote to William Clark in September 1807, asking him to lead America’s first big fossil hunt. Though people call it the first government-funded dig, Jefferson actually paid $199. 66 from his own money on February 9, 1808, to cover all costs.

He picked Clark because after the Lewis and Clark trip, William had shown he was a good explorer who noticed details and cared about science.

The Team Arrived With High Hopes At Big Bone Lick

Clark reached Big Bone Lick, Kentucky on September 6, 1807, bringing his brother General George Rogers Clark and likely his slave York, who had also gone on the Lewis and Clark trip. The site looked good but needed workers.

Clark hired ten men from nearby Cincinnati to help dig. The team set up camp and got ready to start digging for bones.

Salt Licks Had Trapped Animals For Thousands Of Years

Big Bone Lick got its name from the huge bones found around its salt licks. Animals came for the salt for thousands of years, and many got stuck in the mud nearby.

Native Americans knew about these giant bones for generations. European settlers had picked up bones from the ground before, but no one had tried a planned dig.

Clark marked spots to dig based on where others had found bones.

Frustration Grew During Two Weeks Of Empty Digging

For two weeks, Clark and his team found nothing but dirt. They dug trenches where bones had turned up before but came up empty.

Rain turned the ground into sticky mud that filled in their pits. The weather got colder as September went on, making work harder.

Clark tried new spots and different ways of digging. He chose to stay longer than planned, not wanting to go home with nothing.

Mammoth Bones Finally Emerged From The Kentucky Mud

After weeks of finding nothing, Clark’s team hit the jackpot. They found over 300 bones and teeth from Ice Age animals.

The collection had parts from woolly mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths, and old bison. Some bones were huge, with mammoth tusks over six feet long and leg bones as thick as small trees.

Clark had the men clean mud off each piece and wrap them in cloth and straw for travel.

Clark Wrote The First American Paleontological Field Report

Clark made an eleven-page report about everything they did and found.

He wrote down where each bone came from, what kind of soil it was in, and how the bones lay in the ground. He measured and drew the most important pieces, noting differences between similar bones.

This became the first detailed American science report on old bones. Clark’s notes helped scientists tell mammoth and mastodon remains apart.

Fossil Shipping Proved Nearly As Challenging As Finding Them

Moving hundreds of heavy, breakable fossils from Kentucky to Washington DC took careful planning. Clark packed the bones in barrels with straw and loaded them onto boats.

The fossils went down the Ohio River to Pittsburgh, then by wagon to Washington. The trip took months, with Clark sending letters to tell Jefferson how things were going.

Almost all the bones made it to the President’s House in early 1808.

The White House Became America’s First Natural History Museum

Jefferson used several White House rooms as a temporary bone museum. He spread out bones across the East Room floor, grouping them by animal type and body part.

Dr. Caspar Wistar, a top bone expert, came to study them in July 1807.

Visitors and government officials walked among the massive bones, amazed at their size. Jefferson hosted dinner parties where guests talked about these strange creatures.

Scientists Debated Whether These Giant Animals Still Lived

The Big Bone Lick fossils started talks about whether animals could die out completely. Jefferson thought these animals still lived somewhere in the unexplored West.

He even asked Lewis and Clark to look for living mammoths during their western trip. Dr.

Wistar’s study of the bones showed clear differences between mammoth and mastodon teeth, proving they were different types of animals.

American Fossils Crossed The Ocean To Impress European Scientists

Jefferson shared the bones by sending some to other places.

He packed three boxes of fossils for France’s Museum of Natural History, creating the first international bone exchange.

European scientists had doubted American science skills before, but these well-documented specimens earned respect.

Jefferson kept some bones for display at his home and gave others to the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.

A Kentucky Salt Lick Launched American Paleontology

Big Bone Lick became known as the birthplace of American vertebrate paleontology thanks to Clark’s expedition. The site continues to yield fossils today and is now a state park.

Many specimens from the 1807 dig still exist in museum collections.

Clark’s methods set standards for future fossil hunters, showing the importance of careful documentation and preservation.

The expedition marked America’s first serious entry into paleontology as a formal science, launching a tradition of discovery that continues to this day.

Visiting Creation Museum, Kentucky

The Creation Museum at 2800 Bullittsburg Church Rd in Petersburg sits seven miles west of Cincinnati Airport, near where President Jefferson sent William Clark on America’s first paleontology expedition in 1807.

Adult tickets cost $49. 95, with discounts for seniors and youth.

The museum opens Monday-Saturday 9am-5pm and features 75,000 square feet of exhibits, plus a planetarium, Creation Zoo, and botanical gardens.

You can buy combo tickets for both this museum and the Ark Encounter.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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