48.--Locality of Ankylosaurus skull in
Edmonton formation in Red Deer River. The skull is in the rock
just above the pick, about the center of the photograph.]
Along the upper portion of the stream are banks of Eocene age, from
which shells and mammal jaws were secured, but near the town of
Content where the river bends southward, a new series of rocks
appeared and in these our search was rewarded by finding dinosaur
bones similar to those seen at Wagner's ranch. Specimens were found in
increasing numbers as we continued our journey, and progress down the
river was necessarily much slower. Frequently the boat would be tied
up a week or more at one camp while we searched the banks, examining
the cliffs layer by layer that no fossil might escape observation.
With the little dingey the opposite side of the river was reached so
that both sides were covered at the same time from one camp. As soon
as a mile or more had been prospected or a new specimen secured, the
boat was dropped down to a new convenient anchorage. Box after box was
added to the collection till scarcely a cubit's space remained
unoccupied on board our fossil ark.
Where prairie badlands are eroded in innumerable buttes and ravines it
is always doubtful if one has seen all exposures, so there was
peculiar satisfaction in making a thorough search of these river banks
knowing that few if any fossils had escaped observation. On account of
the heavy rainfall and frequent sliding of banks new fossils are
exposed every season so that in a few years these same banks can again
be explored profitably.
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