Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 85, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 July 1908 — MASTODON SKULL UNEARTHED BY DREDGE WORKERS [ARTICLE]

MASTODON SKULL UNEARTHED BY DREDGE WORKERS

Dredge Dipper Brought the Huge Bone to the Surface—Will be Placed on ~ Exhibition at This Office.

George E. Ulm, of Rensselaer, has been working for some time for the Yoder & Swartz dredging company, who are engaged in digging & big dredge ditch near Tracy, Ind. One day last week, when the dredge was about two miles south of Tracy, the dredge dipper brought to the surface a huge bone, and Mr. Ulm, who is a great hand for investigating things

decided to look at the bone and to find out if possible what it was. He therefore had the big bone brought to the dredge boat and found that it was the skull of a mastodon, the long since distinct mammal family that were at one time very thick in the United States, and, in fact, were found in almost all countries of the world. They were much like elephants, alhtough somewhat larger.

The one that this was a part of must have been a whopper, for the part of the skull weighed almost a hundred pounds, was 36 indies long, 30 inches wide and 15 inches thick. There was only ope tooth in the jaw, but it was a big one, and weighed 3 pounds and was 6 inches long and 4% by 5 in its other measurements, and the tooth had seven long roots. The skull was in a remarkable state of preservation, and the sockets which had contained the tusks measured 15 indies deep and six inches in diameter. The tooth was almost as solid as it would be in its live state.

Mr. Ulm will bring the bones home with him and they will be displayed in the window of the Republican office.