The Loup Fork Beds 129 



in to a justice of the peace and asked for a warrant 

 to arrest me for collecting these old bones. He 

 never again came directly to me, either that year or 

 the following, but people told me that he went 

 around to all the justices in that part of the country, 

 trying to get his warrant. Finally, however, they 

 managed to convince him that I was not harming 

 him, and was benefiting science. 



Two years later, in 1884, I was employed by the 

 late Professor Marsh to explore this same fossil bed. 

 The bones which I was after now were covered by 

 fourteen feet of moulding sand and a four-foot ledge 

 of hard rock, the heavier bones lying on the sand- 

 stone, the lighter ones mingled with the sand above. 

 This sand and rock had to be removed by pick and 

 scraper, which meant that there was a large amount 

 of heavy labor before us. Therefore, having more^ 

 means at my command than I had had before, I 

 drove up to Mr. Overton's door and offered him 

 forty dollars a month to work for us with his team 

 during the whole summer, with the understanding 

 that I was to have all the fossils found. This offer 

 he gladly accepted, and I found him a very careful 

 worker. Not only did he do the rough work well, 

 but when we got a floor laid bare above the bones, 

 he proved to be a most careful collector. My other 

 assistant on this expedition was a Mr. Will Russ, 

 who afterwards became a skilful dentist. 



