Sioux County(26) ► ADJACENT TO SIOUX COUNTY Box Butte County(3) ► Dawes County(44) ► Scotts Bluff County(49) ► Fall River County, South Dakota(19) ► Goshen County, Wyoming(70) ► Niobrara County, Wyoming(22) ►
Touch name on this list to highlight map location. Touch blue arrow, or on map, to go there.
The face of this cliff reveals a chronology of geologic events as well as clues about animals and habitat.
Halfway up the cliff face are a series of vertical spiral shapes. First called "devil's corkscrews" (Daemonelix) by local ranchers, these . . . — — Map (db m202240) HM
Ample water from the Niobrara River, protective bluffs, and good grazing land made this an ideal place for a ranch. Established in 1879, it was one of the first ranches in the frontier territory of Sioux County. By the early 1900s, it encompassed . . . — — Map (db m202236) HM
Nineteen million years ago this was a waterhole in the midst of a wide, shallow river valley. Vegetation was sparse. Occasional clouds of volcanic dust thickened the air and extreme drought conditions prevailed. This waterhole was the lifeblood for . . . — — Map (db m202255) HM
In 1981 while excavating a nearby hill, Dr. Robert Hunt of the University of Nebraska uncovered a large carnivore den complex. The dens had been mainly inhabited by wolf-sized animals called beardogs, the largest carnivores in existence 19 million . . . — — Map (db m202267) HM
Harold J. Cook, son of James H. Cook, built this homestead cabin in the early 1900s. He called it East Agate, or "the lower ranch." Fearful that the Carnegie Museum was about to claim the land, his homestead established ownership rights for the Cook . . . — — Map (db m202245) HM
Unlike the shallow bank exposed at University Hill, this end of the waterhole had a steep bank about three feet high. Here in the deeper part of the waterhole, thick deposits of undisturbed bones were found, including about twenty chalicotheres . . . — — Map (db m202261) HM
Between 1891 and 1904, research teams from the University of Nebraska and the Carnegie Museum excavated many of the Daemonelix spirals. At first thought to be the fossil remains of gigantic plants, they were later identified as the . . . — — Map (db m202243) HM
"Shade this all dark with a light sky," Lieutenant Gouverneur K. Warren wrote about the sketch below, "and you have its appearance at sunset." Warren drew this sketch of the ridge in the distance on August 16, 1857, while exploring the upper . . . — — Map (db m202253) HM
This rock face cuts through the shallow north bank of the waterhole. The contorted sediment layers were produced by the feet of mammals walking through the waterhole. The thin white mud layer records several such footprints or tracks. The viscous . . . — — Map (db m202254) HM
Based on his friendship with Chief Red Cloud and others, James Cook regularly invited Lakota families from the Pine Ridge Reservation to stay at Agate Springs Ranch. Arriving by wagon and horseback, they made the 150-mile, one-week journey almost . . . — — Map (db m202237) HM
The 1904-1923 excavations took place on this trail around University and Carnegie Hills. The trail along the hillsides is at the same level as the waterhole bonebed. Many large bonebed slabs were excavated from this level.
Those excavations . . . — — Map (db m202259) HM
This is the southwestern edge of the prehistoric waterhole. The bones of an ancient two-horned rhinoceros called Menoceras were found in enormous numbers during the excavations conducted here. It is believed that these rhinoceroses were . . . — — Map (db m202263) HM
Behind this ridge is the site of Quarry A, the first scientific excavation conducted at Agate. In 1904, Olaf Peterson of the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh found fossil bones of many rhinoceroses, most of them from the large, heavy-bodied . . . — — Map (db m202258) HM
During this time of scientific exploration, other gatherings took place at James Cook's Agate Springs Ranch. Red Cloud, an Oglala Lakota leader, and many of his friends and family often made the 150-mile trip by wagon to visit from the Pine Ridge . . . — — Map (db m202252) HM
During the time of scientific exploration, other gatherings took place at Agate Springs Ranch. Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota and many of his friends and family members would make the 150-mile trip by wagon from the Pine Ridge Reservation. While . . . — — Map (db m202227) HM
