Charlotte Hill

Charlotte Hill. Early Citizen-Scientist. Women's stories figure prominently in the early frontier days of Florissant. Charlotte Hill homesteaded here in the late 1800s. Married at age 13, she raised seven children, ranched with her husband, and pursued her avocation of collecting fossils. Her collections helped unveil Florissant's reputation as a world-class fossil site. She is credited for finding many of Florissant's first described fossil species. , Prof. Scudder went over to Hill's ranch to see about some fossil insects Mrs. H. had been collecting for him...[she) had boxes upon boxes of...most perfect insects of various descriptions. , From the field journals of Arthur Lakes, teacher and early geologist, 1877 , Only two miles from the Florissant post office are the quite famous petrified stumps. They are situated on a ranch owned by Adam Hill, and are the pride of his wife, Mrs. Charlotte Hill, who has turned naturalist, and has displayed at her home an elegant array of geologic specimens... This place furnishes a most interesting study for the naturalist and is visited every year by large. delegations from the colleges and scientific schools of the east. , The Fairplay Flume newspaper June 17. 1880 , Caption: Charlotte Hill's finds included the famous butterfly Prodryas persephone, one of the finest fossils ever found at Florissant.