But Douglass was not the only one to realize the necessity of preserving
this unique fossil record of the dinosaurs for people of today and the
future to see on the spot. Officials of the Carnegie Museum realized the
extraordinary nature of the deposits and their contribution to our
knowledge of the past; and they were not long in taking steps to protect
the dinosaur quarry. To preserve it for science, they sought to lay
claim to it as a mineral property. But their claim was disallowed by the
U. S. Department of the Interior, because fossil bones could not be
classed as a mineral within the meaning of the mining laws.
The museum pressed its case, this time with results—but not what they
expected. The outcome was not the establishment of a mere mineral claim,
but of a national monument. Under the provisions of the Antiquities Act,
to safeguard and preserve objects and areas of significant scientific or
historic interest, the dinosaur quarry and 80 acres of surrounding land
were declared a national monument on October 4, 1915. Less than a year
later it was included in the newly created National Park System.
Several things contributed notably to this action to protect the quarry.
They were: the exceptional preservation of the bones; the number,
variety and completeness of the skeletons; the relative abundance of
skulls, consisting of 8 or more in a complete state, and about an equal
number of incomplete ones; and the finding of the first complete tails.
In 1923, knowing that the quarry was protected, and that the scientific
collection of the fossil bones for museum exhibit was at an end, Earl
Douglass turned again to the idea of making a perfected exhibit of the
fossils right where they lie. His letter to Dr. Walcott, secretary of
the Smithsonian Institution, reads, in part, “I hope that the
Government, for the benefit of science and the people, will uncover a
large area, leave the bones and skeletons in relief and house them in.
It would make one of the most astounding and instructive sights
imaginable.”
[Illustration: ARCHITECT’S DRAWING OF VISITOR CENTER AT QUARRY
SITE.]
This is precisely what the Government had in mind and, through the
agency of the National Park Service, intended to accomplish. Plans for
an in-place exhibit were drawn up. But many years were to elapse before
the plans passed from blueprint into reality.
In the meantime, the quarry entered the second phase of its existence, a
dormant period from a scientific viewpoint, but one in which the forces
of the future gathered ground.
During the 1930’s the monument served as a transient camp. A. C. Boyle
was installed as resident geologist and custodian for the Park Service.
Under his guidance a program for the general development of the area was
carried on, financed largely by WPA funds. This entailed, among other
things, the deepening and widening of the quarry cut, and the
construction of buildings later to accommodate the monument staff and
exhibits.
The American Museum of Natural History became interested in the
development at this time and, through its curator of fossil reptiles,
Barnum Brown, sought to initiate a joint effort with the Park Service
for exhibiting the quarry remains.