Big Bone Lick State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Big Bone Lick State Park |
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| Type | Kentucky state park |
| Location | Boone County, Kentucky |
| Nearest city | Union, Kentucky |
| Area | 525 acres (212 ha) |
| Elevation | 469 feet (143 m) |
| Created | 1960 |
| Operated by | Kentucky Department of Parks |
| Open | Year-round |
| NRHP reference No. | 72001585 |
| Added to NRHP | June 13, 1972 |
| Designated: | 2009 |
Big Bone Lick State Park is a special place in Boone County, Kentucky. It's named after the huge fossil bones found there. These bones belonged to giant animals like mammoths and mastodons.
Scientists believe these ancient animals were drawn to the area by a "salt lick." This was a natural spot where salty water from sulfur springs came to the surface. Animals need salt in their diet, just like us! Many different animals, including bison, caribou, deer, elk, and even saber-toothed cats, visited these springs. The ground near the springs was often soft and marshy. Sadly, many large animals got stuck and couldn't escape, which is why their bones were preserved.
Contents
History of Big Bone Lick
People have known about the salt lick and its amazing fossils for a very long time. Native Americans were the first to discover the huge bones. The area got its name because of these "big bones."
The salty springs are formed by water flowing through layers of limestone and shale. This water dissolves salts and brings them to the surface, creating a salty pool.
Early Discoveries (1700s)
Some people think Captain Charles le Moyne de Longueuil might have visited the site in 1739. He supposedly took some fossils back to France.
In 1750, explorer Christopher Gist wrote about finding a giant tooth. He said it weighed over four pounds!
In 1755, a frontier settler named Mary Draper Ingles was taken to Big Bone Lick. She worked there boiling salty water to make salt. This salt was then traded by the Native Americans.
In 1762, James Wright wrote about the site, even though he hadn't seen it himself. He heard from Native Americans that there were remains of five skeletons. He said one head was so big, a man could barely hold it!
In 1765, Indian trader George Croghan collected some tusks and bones. He later sent some to Benjamin Franklin. Scientists like William Hunter and Georges Cuvier studied these bones. Cuvier was the first to realize that these animals were an extinct type of elephant, which he called "Mastodontes." The idea that a whole animal species could disappear forever was a new and exciting idea back then!
Famous explorer Daniel Boone also visited Big Bone Lick around 1770. He explored the amazing fossil remains. In 1775, Nicholas Cresswell visited and found many huge bones and teeth. He thought they were from elephants.
Future president William Henry Harrison collected many fossils in 1795. Sadly, they were all lost when his boat sank in the Ohio River.
More Discoveries (1800s)
In 1803, a doctor named William Goforth dug up many bones and sold them in Europe. Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clark fame) also visited the site.
In 1807, William Clark (Meriwether Lewis's partner) and his brother George Rogers Clark visited. They collected over 300 bones and teeth! They sent these to President Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson gave some bones to museums in Paris and Philadelphia. These studies helped scientists tell the difference between mastodons and mammoths.
Clark also found three Clovis spear points. These tools showed that early Native Americans hunted in the area thousands of years ago. One mastodon bone even had a cut mark, suggesting ancient people lived there.
A resort hotel called The Clay House opened nearby in 1815. Visitors could bathe in the salty springs, which people believed had healing powers. Many naturalists came to find bones for museums. The hotel closed in 1830.
In 1831, a paleontologist named Richard Harlan identified a new type of giant sloth from bones found at Big Bone Lick.
By the mid-1800s, most of the easy-to-find fossils were gone. In 1868, paleontologist Nathaniel Southgate Shaler led a big dig. He took all remaining fossils to Harvard University for study. Even so, in 1877, 93-year-old Dr. Christopher Columbus Graham continued digging. He found seven barrels of bones and teeth!
Modern Research (1900s)
In the 1930s, William Snyder Webb and William Funkhouser studied the area. They found two ancient burial mounds.
From 1962 to 1967, the University of Nebraska did more digs. They wanted to find any remaining fossils and learn more about the ancient environment. They found over 2,000 fossils! These included bones of giant ground sloths, tapirs, mastodons, giant bison, musk oxen, giant moose-like deer, caribou, elk, woolly mammoths, and horses. These fossils are about 11,700 to 115,000 years old. They are now on display at the University of Nebraska State Museum. The team also found an ancient spearpoint from 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.
Later digs in 1981 found burials of an adult and a child. They also found old cooking pits and remains of a house from the Late Archaic period. In 1993, more stone tools and pottery were found. This showed that different groups of Native Americans visited the site over many years, possibly to make salt.
History of the Park Itself
In 1950, people started thinking about making a park here. In 1956, land was bought and given to the state. In 1960, the Kentucky Department of Parks began building picnic areas and a parking lot. By 1962, the park grew to 175 acres.
Big Bone Lick was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. A museum was built in 1990. By 2000, the park reached its current size of 512 acres.
In 2002, the National Park Service named Big Bone Lick State Park an official Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail Site. In 2009, it became a National Natural Landmark. The park proudly calls itself "the birthplace of American paleontology" (the study of fossils).
Activities and Amenities
The visitors center (opened in 2004) has cool indoor and outdoor exhibits. You can see fossils, American art, and a huge 1,000-pound mastodon skull! The exhibits teach you about geology and Native American history.
The park has several nature trails. The Discovery Trail has a boardwalk that goes around a marshy area. Here, you can see life-sized models of a woolly mammoth, a mastodon, a ground sloth, and bison. It's like stepping back in time! This trail winds through different habitats like grasslands and wetlands.
The park also has a small herd of bison that you can see.
You can also enjoy picnicking and camping at the park's 62-site campground.
