Geologists and Mammoth Teeth
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON GEOLOGISTS, in
structors and graduate students, visited Eastern Ore
gon during spring vacation and name luck with the
two mammoth teeth pirtured (right). The geologists
are, standing (from left)—I*hll Porter .senior in ge
ology, Alan Powers and R. E. Corcoran, graduate
students In geology; kneeling—(from left)—Ewart
M. Baldwin, assoelate professor of geology, and J. E.
Gair, assistant professor of geology.
Professors, Graduates, Excavate
For 10,000-Year Old Mammoth
By Leonard Calvert
The recent discovery of a mam
moth skeleton took two professors
and three graduate students to The
Dalles area to do excavating work
during spring vacation.
Ewart R. Baldwin, associate pro
fessor of geology, and J. E. Gair,
‘'assistant professor of geology, ac
companied by R. E. Corcoran, Alan
Powers and Phil Porter, all gradu
ate students in geology, found sev
eral leg bones and parts of the
skull of a presumably woolly mam
moth about 10,000 years old.
The original discovery, of two
teeth, was made by a farmer, For
rest Hay, who lives near The
Dalles, who in turn called S. C.
Sargent, a University of Oregon
graduate who is now the geologist
for The Dalles dam on the Colum
bia river. It was .Sargent who call
ed Baldwin and told him of the
discovery. Hay was looking for
agates when he found the teeth.
Scattered IJoncs Frequent
This is the most complete mam
moth skeleton found in Oregon in
recent years, Baldwin said, but it
is doubtful if the whole skeleton of
this animal will be found. However,
finds of scattered bones are fairly
frequent, Baldwin said. Within the
last year, tusks have been found
in a Harrisburg irrigation ditch,
at the Look-out dam project near
Lowell and in a bank of the Wil
lamette river near Harrisburg.
The name of the mammoth is as
yet undetermined, Baldwin said, ns
is its exact age. There were no hu
man artifacts near the remains to
help dale the animal.
Teeth Important Finds
The most important find was the
~two teeth of the animal, Baldwin
said. They arc very well preserved.
A strange feature of the.se teeth
is that the enamel ridges at the
top of the teeth run clear to the
roots and as the animal wears his
teeth down, new teeth push the old
ones up until they are w-orn away
und the animal starts to wear
down the new teeth, whereby the
process is repeated, Baldwin said.
Helen McGillicuddy, curator of
the museum of natural history, is
currently putting preservatives on
the bones and filling the cracks,
Baldwin said. All the remains that
were excavated have been received
and are being prepared for even
tual display in the museum, he
said. The bones are especially dif
ficult to prepare because they were
rot petrified and have started to
rot, and therefore crumble easily,
he explained.
More Research Plan
Baldwin is making tentative
plans to return to the area and do
some more excavating to see if
some more of the animal can be
found. The expedition will probably
take place early this summer.
The group also found a tusk of
a mastodon a few miles from the
other discovery. The tusk was
buried in a Pliocene age formation,
Baldwin said, when no elephants
lived and the department is pretty
sure that it is a mastodon.
"Lots of people find fossils but
don't realize what they are or if
they do, they don't know who to
all about it,” Baldwin said. "The
geology department is interested
in the foss'ls if they are good spe
cimens and they would like to keep
a record of where the fossils occur
and the beds in which they occur
so that the fossils can be more
easily dated.’’
Rhinoceros Tooth Discovered
The University party also dis
covered a rhinoceros tooth of the
lower middle Pliocene age, which
"could be" three or four million
years old, according to Baldwin.
The tooth was found at the McKay
reservoir, south of Pendleton. In
previous trips to the McKay area
last summer and the winter before,
University of Oregon geologists
discovered various camel, rhino
ceros and horse remains.
The latest was partially financed
by research funds.
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
CO-OPERATIVE STORE
4 :(X) p.m. — Thursday, April 17, 1952
Room 207 Chapman Hall
World News Capsules-—
Flood Pours Down Missouri River;
Sioux City to See Crest Tonight
Compiled by Donne Lindbecb
(From the wire* of the United Press and Associated Tress)
The merciless flood pouring down the Missouri river posed a fre h
threat Sunday night when it became apparent that it was outrunning
its timetable.
Target number one of the Missouri is Sioux City, la., where a crcrjt
had been expected Monday night. Engineers now say the crest will hit
the nearly deserted city, early tomorrow. The crest is estimated a foot
higher than previously. Late Sunday the Missouri had risen two feet
above Saturday’s record mark. Six hundred blocks of Sioux City and
its suburbs are already under water and at least 2,500 persons are
homeless.
Downstream, Omaha saw the river stage surge past the level which1
has stood since 1881 as a record. The whole river valley from Sioux City
to Omaha is covered with flood waters.
High winds and a tornado hit Ohio . . .
... in widely separated sections Sunday.
The tornado swooped out of the west to strike the edge of the tov.n
of Dover in northeastern Ohio. The roofs were ripped from two small'
factories. None of the 400 employes of the plants were at work.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage was caused In
central Ohio by high winds that ripped roofs off houses and leveled a
100-year old church near Zanesville.
Steel negotiations will qet goinq aaain . . .
...Monday afternoon at Washington. When the talks recessed fer
the Easter weekend, there were no signs that the industry, and the
steelworkers union were anywhere near agreement. In fart Union
President Philip Murray warned that the union would not. in effect,
wait forever; that appeared to imply a new strike threat if wage tali 3
don't show a change soon.
The Ohio Bell telephone company said . . .
• • • Sunday night it's close to an agreement with 12,000 striking CXO
communications workers and that a settlement appears only a matter
of hours away.
Ohio Bell indicated the agreement would be close to the $4 to ST a
week won by Michigan Bell last week.
A surprise announcement was made ...
. .. Sunday night by Senator Tom Connally of Texas, chairman of
the important senate foreign relations committee.
Returning to Washington after a few days in Texas, Connally issued
a statement which said: "I do not desire to be a candidate for renomina
tion at the Texas primary.”
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