46 Life of a Fossil Hunter 



But we are far a-field; let us return to the plains 

 and canyons of the Kansas chalk beds. 



I recall many trying experiences during that 

 memorable first season. Often we got into barren 

 ground and walked over miles and miles of blister- 

 ing chalk with nothing to show for our trouble. In 

 one locality the remains might be very abundant, 

 while in another, perhaps just as promising in ap- 

 pearance, thousands of acres would be entirely bar- 

 ren. But we had to go over it all before we could 

 be sure that there was nothing to repay our toil. 



Once after two weeks of fruitless effort, we drove 

 into a deep canyon, cut into the upper or reddish 

 chalks near Monument Rocks, which are so much 

 richer in fossils than the yellow or whitish beds 

 farther east. 



I had barely pitched the tent and got among the 

 beds when I discovered not only that I was the first 

 collector to visit the canyon but that it was rich in 

 fossil remains. I found two specimens of Plate- 

 carpus, a species of Kansas mosasaur, in a low 

 knoll, separated by but three feet of chalk. 



At the same time one of those uncomfortable cold 

 rains set in, and I was not much encouraged when 

 Will told me that we had no food left. There was 

 plenty of corn for the ponies, but no coffee, flour, 

 bacon, or canned goods, not even an antelope; and 

 we were forty miles from our base of supplies. I 



