34 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



like animals, exceeding in size by thrice his Inilk the Hving musk-ox of 

 the north country. Also vast herds of mammoths and mastodons, the 

 former exceeding in size his living near relatives, the elephants of 

 India and Africa, roamed at will over the country. Then there were 

 ground sloths, large heavy creatures related to the living tree-sloths 

 of South America, camels rivaling their Old World living relatives 

 and even exceeding them in length of limb and neck. Great bears, and 

 horses belonging probably to two distinct species, the larger about 

 equaling in size a large cow pony, were abundant. Among the smaller 

 animals are represented wolves, coyotes, beavers, pocket gophers, and 

 hares. 



Fig. 26. — Fossil bones uncovered but still iii situ in gravel pit near American 

 Falls, Idaho. In foreground is seen the radio-ulna of the large musk-ox-like 

 animal. In the background, slightly to left, is a metapodial or cannon bone 

 of a camel. 



The fossil bones which give us this glimpse of the past were col- 

 lected from several localities. Most of them were not found in view 

 on the surface of the ground, but were obtained by systematic and 

 careful excavating. Usually on this expedition gravel pits in which 

 former excavation had revealed the presence of fossil bones were 

 chosen for our operations. Here many cubic yards of the material 

 were carefully worked over, and as bone after bone was thus brought 

 to light they were taken out by the usual methods known to fossil 

 hunters and carefully wrapped, labelled, and packed for shipment. 



After completing the season's work in the Snake River Valley my 

 detail took me to Bend, Oregon, where fossil bones had been reported 



