A Mammoth Gift

On Sept. 14, 2002, Philip and Elenora Anderson were inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame, an honor they owe to a huge, elephant-like prehistoric beast. The story begins in 1974, when Phil hired a contractor to level 20 acres of land he owned in the city of Hot Springs, S. D. in preparation for a housing development. Little did he know that he and his wife would soon become science celebrities.

"There was a large hill and I decided to grade it down about 30 feet. It was a real surprise," says Phil, when the earthmover sheared off what turned out to be a mammoth tusk. Soon after the discovery, scientists began excavating the site and realized that it contained many mammoths.

These colossal, animals roamed the Great Plains of South Dakota during the Ice Age 26,000 years ago. Columbian mammoths weighed up to 10 tons and stood 12 to 14 feet high at the shoulders; they consumed 700 pounds of vegetation a day. Their favorite grasses and plants thrived year-round near the warm mineral water springs for which Hot Springs is known.

The mammoths drank from the abundant pools the springs provided. One watering hole, however, was a death trap. Probing the pond's edge for vegetation and water, the mammoths either slipped or ventured into the pool only to find they could not make their way back up the steep banks that had been made treacherously slippery from pond water percolating up through the soil.

As these huge animals struggled to free themselves, the earth gave way like a mudslide, and the mammoths, exhausted, either drowned or starved to death. The first mammoths that died in the watering hole were buried by mud and sand. Others came, suffered that same fate, and were buried above their unfortunate predecessors. This went on for 300 to 700 years, until the watering hole eventually filled up with earth -- a grave for more than 100 mammoths and other Ice Age animals.

The site has yielded many impressive fossils, but perhaps the most exciting find was that of a completely articulated skeleton of a mammoth in 1979. The excavation crew found the animal lying on its back with all the bones in place where the animal had died.

Further excavation also unearthed remains of the rare and extinct giant short-faced bear, the most powerful predator of the Ice Ages. This giant bear measured a little over five feet tall at the shoulder when standing on all four legs, and weighed close to 1,400 pounds.

The Andersons decided that the land on which Phil planned to build houses would be more valuable as a resource for scientific study, and donated the burial place to a non-profit community corporation to care for the bones. "We didn't know anything about bones," says Elenora. "We talked about it and decided if it was something, that it should stay where it was." Twenty-eight years later, bones are still being excavated at this world-class paleontological site.

In 1980, the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs was designated a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior. In 1985, a 20,000-square-foot visitor center was built over the now-dry watering hole, with the mammoth bones displayed "as found". An extended exhibit hall was added in 2001. More than 100,000 people travel to the Black Hills and Hot Springs to visit the site every year. Volunteers, scientists and diggers come from around the world to help make this one of the world's foremost ongoing paleontological sites. "Hot Springs needed something for tourists, and school kids on field trips learn about mammoths and the Ice Age. But more importantly, scientists from all over the world travel here to do their research," says Elenora.

Each year the mammoth count goes up. The grand tally of unearthed mammoths now tops 50, and scientists estimate that the site contains the remains of over 100 mammoths. With less than 20 percent of the sinkhole excavated, the site already lays claim to being the largest primary accumulation of mammoth bones in North America.

The Andersons have never regretted their decision to preserve the site. Says Phil, "All the people who've banded together to develop and operate the site have done a wonderful job. I'm happy we didn't sell it in the beginning or let other museums take the bones away from here. It's been an experience of a lifetime as far as I'm concerned."

The Mammoth Site is open year-round, and guided tours are available. For more information, call (605) 745-6017 or visit www.mammothsite.com.