New Jersey, 1869, p. 740) stated that mastodon remains had been found at
Pemberton. Previously, Conrad (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila. vol. I,
1832, p. 11) had reported that bones and teeth of this species had been
found here. In the collection of the Academy at Philadelphia are a part
of a skull and some bones and teeth which were collected at Pemberton in
1887 by J. C. Saltar and E. McConnell. Rhoads (Mamm. Penn. N. J., p.
234) mentioned this skeleton and said that it was exposed in the bed of
a small stream. Mr. J. Coleman Saltar, now of Milford, Delaware, has
kindly replied to the present writer’s inquiries. He says that the
skeleton was found about 1.5 miles northwest of Pemberton, in the bank
of a small stream lying partly in the water, partly embedded in the
bank. The flood-plain is perhaps about 10 feet below the tilled land
along the stream. On the flood-plain is recent silt. Below this appears
to be a Pleistocene deposit which contains vegetable débris, including
pine cones. The skeleton was in this layer, about 3 feet below the
surface. Professor Valiant informed Mr. Rhoads that another skull was
found, a good many years ago, in a swamp near Pemberton, and for a long
time was used as a door-step before its real nature was discovered. Mr.
Saltar, in the letter referred to above, stated that his understanding
has been that this skull was found along the same stream and was used as
a stepping-stone in crossing, until some progressive person sought to
change its position.
In the collection of the Academy, at Philadelphia, are 2 good teeth and
parts of 2 others which are said to have been found at Pemberton. They
are credited to G. C. Forsyth. At Princeton University is a nearly
complete lower jaw, No. 8173, of a mastodon which was collected at
Pemberton.
Pemberton is on Rancocas River. In Salisbury and Knapp’s work of 1917,
on page 184, it is stated that sands which seem to belong to the Cape
May are found along the North branch of the Rancocas near Pemberton.
6. _Trenton, Mercer County._—Mr. S. N. Rhoads, in 1903 (Mamm. Penn. N.
J., p. 235) stated that there is in Rutgers College Museum a specimen of
tusk of mastodon which was reported to have been found in 1878
associated with stone implements in the Trenton gravels, 12 feet below
the surface. Cook (Rep. Stat. Geol. New Jersey, for 1878, p. 15) stated
that the tusk was found at a depth of 14 feet, with the gravel and
stones partly stratified over it. There may be a question whether the
tusk belonged to a mastodon or to an elephant. Professor S. Lockwood
(Pop. Sci. Monthly, vol. XXLI, p. 344) wrote that he had seen a tusk,
doubtless the one mentioned above, taken from the Trenton gravels.
Whether or not this tusk was found immediately at Trenton was not
stated, but Cook reported that it was found at Trenton.
7. _Freehold, Monmouth County._—Several mastodons have been reported
from this place. Professor Samuel Lockwood, in 1882 (Amer. Jour. Sci.,
vol. XXIV, p. 291; Pop. Sci. Monthly, vol. XXII, p. 341; Proc. Amer.
Assoc. Adv. Sci., vol. XXXI, 1883, p. 365) reported that he had exhumed
a skeleton of a mastodon in a peat-swamp 2 miles west of the town. It
rested on hardpan, beneath the peat. Over the neck were sticks which had
been cut by beavers. Lockwood’s complete account was published in the
Popular Science Monthly, as quoted. The skeleton was in very bad
condition. The lower jaw is not mentioned. According to the New Jersey
map cited, the region about Freehold is occupied by the Pensauken
formation; according to Salisbury and Knapp the identity of this is not
wholly certain. It is impossible to say when the skeleton had fallen
there. Some one, probably G. H. Cook (Geol. New Jersey, 1868, p. 741),
stated that bones of mastodon had been found near Freehold by O. R.
Willis. Professor Valiant has told the writer of a milk-tooth of a
mastodon found at “Hartshorne’s mills” (Cook’s Geol. New Jersey, 1868,
p. 781).
8. _Englishtown, Monmouth County._—Mr. S. N. Rhoads (Mamm. Penn., N. J.,
p. 235) stated that Professor Valiant had informed him that remains of
mastodon had been found in marl at Englishtown. The relations of the
remains to the marl one can not now learn. According to the New Jersey
geologists, the region about the place is occupied by Pensauken; but one
can not be certain about the geological age of the mastodon.
9. _Marlboro, Monmouth County._—George H. Cook (Geol. New Jersey, 1868,
p. 741) reported that a portion of a jaw of a mastodon had been found in
a mill-race at Marlboro; but when this happened we are not told. Rhoads,
as cited, probably refers to the same specimen, where he mentions a
ramus of a young mastodon containing the milk dentition. This is in
Rutgers College. The gravels on the hills about Marlboro are referred by
the New Jersey geologists to the Pensauken. It is not unlikely, however,
that Cape May deposits are to be met with at lower levels.
10. _Long Branch, Monmouth County._—A number of mastodons have been
found in the vicinity of Long Branch. In 1824 (Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist., N.
Y., vol. I, pp. 143–147), De Kay, Van Rensselaer, and Cooper gave a
detailed account of the exhumation of a mastodon skeleton on a farm
called “Poplar,” 3 miles southwest of Long Branch, and 2 miles from the
sea-beach. The skeleton was found near the border of a marsh and so
close to the surface that it was discovered by a molar sticking out of
the turf. The vertebral column lay only about 8 or 10 inches below the
surface. These bones, including the skull, which lay near the surface,
were more or less decayed. The tusks were not found at all. The bones
were all buried in a stratum of black earth about 8 feet thick. Below
this was a bed of sand, with rolled pebbles, of unequal thickness, but
generally thicker than the bed of muck. Under this again was found a bed
of marl of undetermined age. The impression received by the
investigators was that the animal had sunken into the marsh and died in
a standing position. In such a case, the bog had been formed before the
animal was mired in it. There is an account by Van Rensselaer in the
American Journal of Science, volume XI, 1826, page 246, of the finding
of this skeleton. Godman (Amer. Nat. Hist., vol. II) gave an account of
the same discovery. Cook (Geol. New Jersey, 1868, p. 741) thought that
the bones had become exposed to view through subsidence of the peaty
layer, due to its having been drained.
James Hall (Geol. 4th Dist., N. Y., p. 365) states that he had assisted
in exhuming a mastodon at Long Branch which was in a natural vertical
position, his body supported by the turf soil or black earth and his
feet resting upon a gravelly bottom.
Lockwood (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XXIV, 1882, p. 294; Pop. Sci. Monthly,
vol. XXII, p. 344) reported that he had known of 2 teeth of the mastodon
which at distant times had been taken up at sea off Long Branch.
While it is very natural to refer to the latest Pleistocene these
mastodons which lie so near the surface, it must not be concluded with
too much assurance that they do belong to the Late Wisconsin. The
discovery of horse-teeth in the Navesink Hills and of _Megatherium_ at
Long Branch shows that the older Pleistocene deposits are present in
this region.
11. _Navesink Hills, Monmouth County._—In 1869 (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci.
Phila., vol. VII, p. 261), Leidy reported that remains of the mastodon
had been found in this region, associated with a vertebra and some teeth
of a fossil horse. This was based on Mitchill’s statement (Cat. Organ.
Remains, p. 7) that he had a part of a tibia of a mastodon.
12. _Manasquan Inlet, Monmouth County._—In 1882 (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol.
XXIV, p. 294), Lockwood stated that he had known of a tusk and some
other bones of a mastodon which had been uncovered by sea-waves in a
storm about 15 miles south of Long Branch. In another place (Pop. Sci.
Monthly, vol. XXII, p. 344) he spoke of a tusk which had been thus
unearthed in Monmouth County. The place was evidently north of Manasquan
Inlet.
Salisbury and Knapp (Geol. Surv. New Jersey, vol. VIII) describe the
region along the coast from Manasquan River to Long Branch as presenting
Cape May deposits at elevations below 40 or 45 feet, while modern beach
deposits occupy some areas below this level. It seems, however that some
of these supposed Recent materials contain extinct vertebrates and are
older than they appear to be.
13. _Verona, Essex County._—George H. Cook (Geol. New Jersey, 1868, p.
741) stated that a very perfect tooth of a mastodon had been picked up
near Verona. This town is on Peckman Brook, and in the valley of this
stream there is some stratified drift which is referred to the
Wisconsin. Too little is known about the history of the tooth to enable
one to determine with confidence its geological age.
14. _Rockport, Warren County_ (_Schooley’s Mountain_).—In 1828 (Amer.
Jour. Sci., vol. XIV, p. 188), Thomas P. Stewart reported the discovery
of what he called a mammoth on Schooley’s Mountain. It was met with in
1827, in excavating the Morris Canal. The locality must therefore be
west of Musconetcong River and probably not far from Rockport. The bones
lay at a depth of about 3 feet. The animal was evidently a mastodon. A
tooth, a lower last molar, measured 3.5 inches in width and 7 inches in
length. The enamel was well preserved. Other bones were found.
15. _Hackettstown, Warren County._—In the fourth volume of the
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1844, on pages 118 to
121, there is an account, by J. B. Maxwell, of the discovery of the
remains of 5 mastodons near Hackettstown, about halfway on the road to
Vienna. In this vicinity is a ridge of gneiss which runs in a
northeast-and-southwest direction. On this ridge is a pond-like
depression about 40 yards in length by 25 yards in width, which at one
time was a marsh. After it was drained the owner began digging in it and
discovered the mastodon skeletons. They are described as consisting of
one animal pretty large, three of smaller size, and one a calf. From
these were obtained a skeleton which became the property of Harvard
University and has since been known as the Cambridge skeleton. It is
described by Warren in both editions of his “Monograph on the Mastodon.”
Jackson (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. II, p. 60) described these
skeletons. A lower jaw of a young individual had two alveoli for lower
tusks, 0.75 inch in diameter.
Asa Gray (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. II, 1848, p. 92) examined
wood which had been taken in the place occupied by the stomach of the
skeleton referred to. He found no differences between it and that of the
common hemlock spruce. While Gray speaks of this mastodon as being found
on Schooley’s Mountain, he evidently meant the ones found at
Hackettstown.
According to Maxwell’s account there was at the surface 6 inches of
vegetable deposit; below this was found about 6 inches of whitish sand;
while below this came a bed of pure muck from 4 to 6 feet in depth. In
this were buried the mastodon bones.
Lyell (Second Visit to U. S., ed. 3, vol. II, p. 363) mentions the
skeletons found at Hackettstown. Between the ribs had been found about 7
bushels of vegetable matter supposed to have been contained in the
stomach. He took some of it to London and had it examined
microscopically. It appeared to belong to the white cedar, _Thuja
occidentalis_.
By consulting Lewis and Kümmel’s geological map of New Jersey, it will
be seen that the locality where these mastodons were found is on the
Wisconsin moraine. Plates XLV and XLV _a_ of Salisbury’s report (vol. V,
Geol. Surv. New Jersey) present the topographical and geological details
of this region. A “mastodon pond” is there mapped which is doubtless the
one referred to above. We may be quite certain, therefore, that these
mastodons lived after the retirement of the Wisconsin ice-sheet.
A note, apparently by George Cook (Geol. New Jersey, 1868, p. 741),
stated that some years previously a mastodon tooth had been found 0.5
mile east of Vienna, 4 miles west of Hackettstown.
16. _Hope, Warren County._—A note, probably by George H. Cook, in his
“Geology of New Jersey,” 1868, page 741, stated that a part of a
mastodon skeleton had been found about 2 miles from Hope, on the road
leading to Johnsonsburg and on the farm of Charles Howell. This would be
northeast from Hope. On the New Jersey map referred to there is some
Wisconsin drift indicated near this place. The remains are probably of
late Wisconsin age.
17. _Greendell, Sussex County._—In Warren’s “Monograph on the Mastodon”
(first edition, page 174; second edition, page 200) is an extract taken
from the Sussex Register, of September 27, 1851, giving an account of
the finding of bones, jaws, and teeth of a mastodon on the farm of
Timothy H. Cook, near Greenville. This town was later called Cuttoff and
this name has recently been changed to Greendell. In Cook’s “Geology of
New Jersey,” 1868, page 741, the farm was said to belong to Jacob Voss.
In a bog which had been drained a fire was made on a stump of a tree.
The fire burned the roots, and the bones of the animal became exposed.
The bones of the head especially were apparently very near the surface.
The town is on the Lackawanna Railroad, about 3 miles northeast of
Johnsonsburg, Warren County.
PENNSYLVANIA.
(Map 5.)
1. _Tunkhannock, Wyoming County._—In 1883 (2d Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania,
G^7, p. 20), Dr. I. C. White reported that the tusks and the teeth of a
mastodon had been found at Tunkhannock. At the mouth of Tunkhannock
Creek a large gravel deposit rises to a height of 125 feet above
Susquehanna River and then spreads out into a wide plain. In the valley
of the creek mentioned it takes the form of a sharp, low kame-like ridge
of gravel and boulders. In such deposits the mastodon remains were
found. According to White, these gravels and boulders were laid down in
the waters which came from the retreating glacier and which deeply
flooded all the streams. In case this explanation is the correct one,
this mastodon lived there after the beginning of the retreat of the
Wisconsin ice-sheet. Possibly, however, those gravels, at a height of
125 feet, belong to an older glacial stage.
White, on page 123 of his report quoted above, referred to a tusk which
had been dug up in one of the streets of Tunkhannock. This was probably
the one mentioned in connection with the teeth.
2. _Pittston, Luzerne County._—Dr. Joseph Leidy, in 1873 (Ext. Vert.
Fauna West. Terrs., p. 238, plate XXVIII, fig. 9), reported that there
was in the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia 3 first premolars
of apparently as many individuals of _Mammut americanum_, which had been
found at Pittston, associated with _Equus major_ (_E. complicatus_) and
_Symbos_ sp. indet. (“_Bison latifrons_” of Leidy). One of these he
figured. The present writer has examined these teeth. Two are upper
antepenultimate milk molars (pm^2), right and left; another is an upper
penultimate milk molar, whose length is 45 mm. and whose width is nearly
as much. They probably did not all belong to one individual. The
geological age of these mastodons will be discussed on page 308.
3. _Berwick, Columbia County._—The U. S. National Museum has a cast of a
mastodon tooth sent there in 1904 by Professor A. U. Lesher. The tooth
was an upper right last molar and only slightly worn. There were 4
crests and a very strongly developed talon. No details were furnished
regarding the conditions under which it was discovered.
4. _Reading, Berks County._—The collection of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia contains a lower left hindermost tooth of a
mastodon and some fragments of one or two other teeth, said to have been
found on Schuylkill River at Reading. These remains appear not to have
been accompanied by any details regarding the manner of their burial.
5. _Port Kennedy, Montgomery County._—Many remains of the mastodon have
been found in the famous cave, or fissure, discovered at this place. The
first accounts of these fossils were published in 1871 (Cope, Proc.
Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. XII, pp. 15, 95; Wheatley, Amer. Jour. Sci.,
ser. 3, vol. I, pp. 235–237, 384–385). Cope (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci.
Phila., ser. 2, vol. XI, pp. 193–267) presented the results of a
thorough exploitation of the cave. For the nature of the remains of
mastodon found there the papers mentioned may be consulted. A list of
the associated fossils and a discussion of the geological features of
the case will be found in its proper place on page 312.
6. _Jackson Township, York County._—In the collection of the Academy at
Philadelphia there is a lower left hindermost molar of a mastodon which
is labeled as having been found in the township mentioned, but no
details regarding the exact locality and kind of deposit were furnished.
Jackson Township is situated in the west and northwestern part of York
County.
7. _Kishacoquillas Station, near Reedsville, Mifflin County._—In 1858
Professor H. D. Rogers (Geol. Pennsylvania, vol. I, p. 480) wrote that 4
grinders of a mastodon and a part of the skull had been found 3 miles
southwest of Brown’s Mills on Kishacoquillas Creek. The remains rested
on rounded pebbles and were covered with a few feet of alluvium.
Professor Mosheim Swartzell, of Washington, D. C., informs the present
writer that Brown’s Mills is located at the station Reedsville, and that
the tooth must have been found near the station.
8. _Chambersburg, Franklin County._—In 1806, Dr. B. S. Barton (Phila.
Med. and Phys. Jour., vol. II, p. 157) recorded that a large grinder of
Elephas americanus of Cuvier had been found in a field a few miles from
Chambersburg. The tooth was evidently that of a mastodon.
9. _Frankstown, Blair County._—Dr. W. J. Holland, in 1908 (Ann. Carnegie
Mus., vol IV, p. 233), reported remains of young mastodons from a cave
at the place named. They were associated with many other species of
mammals, a list of which will be presented on pages 321, 322.
10. _Bedford, Bedford County._—According to Cuvier (Oss. Foss., 4th ed.,
1834, vol. II, p. 274), Mitchill mentioned that remains of a mastodon
had been found at or near this place. The present writer has not seen
Mitchill’s statement.
11. _Pittsburgh, Allegheny County._—In 1876, Professor J. J. Stevenson
(2d Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania, K, p. 22), reported that numerous
fragments of bones and teeth had been found in the river bank at the
junction of Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers. They were said to have
been presented to a Pittsburgh high school.
12. _Hickory, Washington County._—In 1875, Professor J. J. Stevenson (2d
Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania, K, p. 22) reported that a mastodon tooth had
been found in Mount Pleasant Township, in the county named. It was said
to have been discovered on the high divide between Raccoon and Chartiers
Creeks. The tooth is preserved at Washington and Jefferson College, at
Washington, in the county of the same name. Professor Edwin Linton has
informed the writer that the tooth was found about 1 or 1.5 miles
southeast of Hickory. This indicates that it was found along Westland
Run, probably about halfway down to the village of Westland. The
geological position and possible age will be discussed on page 323.
13. _Erie, Erie County._—In the Erie Public Museum the writer has seen a
part of a lower right hindermost molar of a mastodon which is labeled as
having been found long ago on what was called Frontier farm, about 2
miles west of the Public Library, below Eighth street and toward the
lake. The discovery is credited to W. F. Leutzer. The locality would
apparently be on Chase Creek, at an elevation of about 600 feet above
sea-level, unless it had possibly been buried along the creek in some
pre-Wisconsin formation. In lack of the information that ought to have
been preserved it may be impossible to arrive at any certain conclusion.
Mr. Clyde C. Hill, civil engineer, North East, Erie County, has informed
the writer that Chase Creek flows through the old Frontier farm.
OHIO.
(Maps 5, 7.)
IN UNGLACIATED REGION.
1. _Pike County._—In 1875 (Cincinnati Quart. Jour. Sci., vol. II, p.
154), J. H. Klippart wrote that the upper jaw of a mastodon, with a
considerable part of the cranium, had been found somewhere in this
county and had been on exhibition in the State Agricultural rooms. It
was owned by a Mr. Faust, of Galion or Crestline. Nothing more appears
to be known about this specimen.
2. _Nashport, Muskingum County._—In 1837 (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XXXI,
p. 79), S. P. Hildreth, in an unsigned article, stated that mastodon
remains had been found 2 miles north of this place, during the
excavation of a canal. He recognized large portions of tusks and some
molar teeth. At the same place were found the skull which became the
type of _Castoroides ohioensis_, as well as a skull which Hildreth
described and named _Ovis mamillaris_, but which probably belonged to a
domestic sheep.
47. _Lisbon, Columbiana County._—In the Ohio University Department of
Archæology and History there are some remains of a peccary which, as
reported by Professor W. C. Mills, was found associated with remains of
a mastodon. The locality is said to be in the northwest quarter of the
northeast quarter of section 24, township 18 north, range 3 west. This
would be in the south edge of the town of Lisbon and probably on the
south side of the Middle Fork of Little Beaver River. It would be just
outside of the moraine of the Wisconsin drift-sheet.
IN ILLINOIAN DRIFT AREA.
3. _Cincinnati, Hamilton County._—In the first edition of his “Ossemens
Fossiles,” in 1812 (vol. II, Mastodons, p. 12), Cuvier mentioned the
discovery of a tooth of a mastodon on the right bank of Ohio River,
between the two Miamis. In 1843 (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 1, vol. XII,
p. 127), Lyell reported that teeth of the mastodon and of an elephant
had been found 4 miles north of Cincinnati, in gravel beds of the higher
terrace.
In his “Travels in North America,” volume II, page 60, Lyell wrote that
several teeth of mastodons had been discovered on Mill Creek, and on
what he indicated as the upper terrace. He presented a list of the
genera of mollusks that had been found at the same place. He added that
mastodon remains had been found in the strata of the upper terrace, both
above and below Cincinnati. Professor Fenneman writes that in Mill Creek
valley the Illinoian is distinctly terrace-like and composed of
interbedded sheets of outwash and till, as though made during repeated
advances of the ice. The teeth mentioned may belong, therefore, to the
Illinoian or Sangamon.
The most important discovery of mastodon remains is that recorded by
Seth Hayes (Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. XVII, 1895, p. 217) and by
E. W. Claypole (Amer. Geol., vol. XV, 1895, p. 325). These remains form
what is known as the “Shaw mastodon.” They were discovered in Hyde Park,
in the northeastern part of Cincinnati, in section 27 of Columbia
Township. The spot is 1.4 miles away from the river, and just south of
the upper part of Crawfish Creek. Remains of at least three mastodons
were exhumed, including 3 tusks, a lower jaw with teeth, and many other
bones. There were found also a tooth and a vertebra of a horse. An
interesting matter regarding the lower jaw is the presence of 2
mandibular tusks of considerable size (Hayes, as cited, plates XI, XII).
The diameter of each is given as 1.5 inches. One projected beyond the
jaw 9.75 inches; the other, 7.4 inches. They were curved rather strongly
downward. The specimen is to be referred to _Mammut progenium_ Hay. The
geology of the locality will be described on page 328.
Under this number may be recorded the discovery of mastodon teeth in a
well sunk at Mount Washington, about 8 miles east of the central part of
Cincinnati (Fuller and Clapp, Water-Supply Paper 259, 1912, p. 27). The
teeth were found in coarse gravel, which lies only 15 feet from the
surface, and is overlain by old till and loess. The indications are that
the age of the mastodon is early Pleistocene.
IN AREA OF WISCONSIN DRIFT.
4. _Amanda, Butler County._—In the collection of the Philadelphia
Academy of Sciences the writer has seen 2 teeth of a mastodon, probably
of the same individual, which are labeled as having been found on Dick’s
Creek, Butler County. This creek is in Lemon Township, and flowing
westward, empties into the Miami near Amanda. The teeth are credited to
W. S. Vaux. No details regarding the circumstances of discovery are
recorded. The locality is south of the Germantown moraine.
5. _Germantown, Montgomery County._—In 1875 (Cin. Quart. Jour. Sci.,
vol. II, p. 154), Mr. J. H. Klippart reported that some years before
that time an account had been published in the Dayton Journal of the
finding of teeth, tusks, and some other parts of the skeleton of a
mastodon near Germantown. It is not known whether any competent person
identified these remains, nor what has become of them.