Hell Creek, Montana : America's Key to the Prehistoric Past

by Dingus, Lowell

• ISBN13: 9780312313937
• ISBN10: 0312313934
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-01
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Summary

Hell Creek, Montana, is one of the most windswept, hardscrabble locales in the American West-a quiet town of ranchers, farmers, and others who seek the beauty of the open spaces. It is also the unlikely setting of some of the most fascinating events in the history of the United States and North America. From the first-ever discovery of a Tyrannosaurus rex to Lewis and Clark's landmark expedition; from the Freeman compound standoff to Sitting Bull and Little Big Horn, Hell Creek has been a central player in the events of the last two hundred years-and the last 200 million. Now, with grace and quiet wit, renowned paleontologist and writer Lowell Dingus takes us on a tour of this desolate, beautiful, out-of-the-way place and illuminates its inhabitants, geology, paleontology, and surprising place in history. Nature lovers, dinosaur buffs, and people fascinated with the turbulent history--both ancient and modern--of the American West will find much to delight them in this journey to Hell Creek.

Author Biography

Lowell Dingus is a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City as well as at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Prologue	p. 1
Badlands and Branding	p. 9
Time Traveling Through Hell Creek	p. 18
Early Exploration	p. 31
In the Wake of Custer's Ruin	p. 52
The Vanishing Herds	p. 86
The Resurrection of Tyrannosaurus	p. 111
Following in the Footsteps	p. 151
Fatal Impact and Enormous Eruptions	p. 166
Echoes of the Wild West	p. 183
Is the Past the Key to the Future?	p. 205
Epilogue	p. 222
Notes	p. 233
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.