1886 Marsh and Felch Letters

Synopsis of Letters (1886)

Starting the new year, Marsh, again, much like the start of the last, could not give any pay to Felch before April. However, he still wanted more fossils (skulls and feet) belonging to the stegosaurus and Diplodocus (1/4/1886). Felch replied with wanting a pay increase and the promise of at least nine months worth of work (1/20/1886). The year was off to shaky start. But Marsh agreed to Felch's demands (giving a $10 pay increase). Marsh also appeared to have been vigorously rummaging through the boxes Felch sent, looking for skulls and feet (2/12/1886). Marsh's letters were full of questions about the findings (1/29/1886 & 3/11/1886).

In the same period of a few months, a large cattle company was threatening to buy much of the lands in Garden Park (1/31/1886). By the 11th of March, Marsh wrote to say he spoke with a Major Powell about pre-empting the cattle company's land claim (3/11/1886).

In the midst of all the political battles, Marsh wanted Felch to make a "rough sketch" of the quarry illustrating how the fossils lay when found (1/29/1886). Felch was hesitant (2/11/1886).

Marsh visited the quarry between 9/1/1886 and 9/10/1886. It would be his last time at the Felch Quarry. Some of the worst storms happened from July to September.

  • Some specimens excavated, partially, or otherwise in full:
  • Skeleton 3, NMNH 2672: Diplodocus skull described by Marsh, in display at the NMNH, SI
  • Skeleton 9: "Brontosaurus" (Apatosaurus) still in the original blocks unprepared
  • Skeleton 11, NMNH 4934: Stegosaurus stenops skull and skeleton described by Gilmore, on display at the NMNH, SI (the "Roadkill")

Other letters of note

2/20/1886: Felch explains his intentions to finally build a barbed wire fence around the quarry area. [Felch to Marsh]

3/11/1886: Marsh tells Felch of a new way to harden fossils. Marsh noted that if Felch applied a thin layer of gum Arabic to the fossils, it would toughen them better than anything else. [Marsh to Felch]

3/19/1886: Felch discusseed how he would like to see the quarry set aside for Public Entry to be used for scientific study. Felch expressed his opinion about parties only interested in the monetary value of the land the quarry inhabits. At this time John Muir was alive and well, and only some 1300 miles away. [Felch to Marsh]

3/17/1886: Marsh was able to piece together a stegosaur skull. [Marsh to Felch]

4/8/1886: In this letter, Felch mentions the dermal throat protective layer on stegosaurus. [Felch to Marsh]

4/12/1886: Marsh told Felch to start labeling the top and bottom of the blocks as they came out of the quarry. They could not figure out how "Roadkill" (or Skeleton 11) lay when Felch pulled it out. Without knowing the positioning details of the fossils it was next to impossible to have a good understanding of how the anatomy (dermal plates, tail spines, etc.) of the stegosaurus came together. [Marsh to Felch]

4/18/1886: For this letter, Felch explained in detail his methods for excavating the fossils. [Felch to Marsh]

6/27/1886: Floods ravaged the area causing great damage to Felch's farm. Crops were lost and fences destroyed. Felch did not think $500 ($10,336.28 in 2005) would cover the loss. [Felch to Marsh]

7/4/1886: The previous floods also had torn up railroad tracks so that shipments from the quarry were delayed along with excavations in the quarry since the farm needed every hand available to repair the damage. [Felch to Marsh]

7/12/1886: More storms had gone to such extremes as to reach heights Felch had never seen before. Felch lost $30 of lumber he thought was safely out of the way of previous flood levels. [Felch to Marsh]

7/16/1886: In the midst of all Felch's trouble, Marsh wrote this letter to Felch beginning with "Dear Mr. Lakes…" Arthur Lakes was another affiliate of Marsh's in the "bone digging" business conducted at other locations at the time; Como Bluff in particular. Marsh then ended the letter by telling Felch not to talk about the quarry to anyone. This is odd since Marsh had not asked this of Felch for at least a year or two. It brings to mind a dual image of Felch screaming, "Someone build an arc!" while Marsh is running around his big house in New Haven in a night cap and pajamas checking on all his precious prized positions by candle light. [Marsh to Felch]

9/26/1886: Felch thought stegosaurus was a carnivore. [Felch to Marsh]

10/26/1886: In this letter, Felch was out of money and the cost to run the quarry was more than Marsh was giving Felch. [Felch to Marsh]

11/18/1886: Felch and his crew were working in the snow.