Big Bone Lick

This is one of many historic markers in Big Bone Lick State Park.  It reads as follows:

MARY INGLES

Reputed first white woman in Ky.  Shawnees captured her and two sons in July 1755 at site Roanoke, Va.  Led to village at mouth of Scioto, separated from sons, taken to Big Bone Lick.  Compelled to make salt here; adopted by chief; given few liberties.  Escaped late fall with another woman.  After 40 days she reached home.  Died 1813, age 83.  A courageous, resourceful pioneer.

1965 * Kentucky Historical Society * Kentucky Department of Highways * 859

The Friends of Big Bone will hold a dinner and roast to honor former Boone County Judge Executive Bruce Ferguson (1963-1982 and 1986-1992).  As President of the Big Bone Historical Association, Ferguson worked with William Fitzgerald (secretary) to raise funds to establish a park in the Big Bone Lick area.  On December 12, 1958, they purchased 17 acres of land from Alpha and India Hance for $5,000.  This land became the seed for Big Bone Lick State Park, which was formally established in 1960.  Ferguson has remained a supporter of the park over the years.

The dinner-roast will be held October 6, 2011 at Receptions Conference Center on Donaldson Road in Boone County.  The reception starts at 5:45 p.m. with dinner at 6:45 p.m.  Cost is $55 per person.  Funds raised by this dinner will be used to upgrade the Visitor’s Center and further promote and preserve the history of Big Bone Lick State Park.

The Friends of Big Bone are looking for anyone who has worked with Judge Ferguson or who wishes to participate in the roast.  To receive an invitation to the dinner, call (859) 689-5631 or send an email.

I found this interesting 1972 Master Plan for Big Bone Lick State Park on the web:

The master plan for Big Bone Lick State Park calls for eventual development of the entire area as a physically connected, completely integrated recreation facility. Completion of this development is to be phased, however, and some portions of the park are to be improved immediately, while others are designed as Future Development Areas.

Proposals for the initial improvements are shown on the master plan development sheets covering the entire study area. The four development sheets are keyed to the map index and the projects shown on them are discussed at length below, those areas not shown on the development sheets will be developed later and will not be treated in detail in this report.

Expansion of existing park boundary is in dictated in the Master Plan, and discussion of this should precede detailed examination of the individual projects scheduled for initial development.

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Ever wonder why the small, quiet Big Bone Lick State Park gains so much national and international attention and awards?  Dr. John Rockaway, professor of geology at NKU and Jeannine Kreinbrink, adjunct professor of archeology at NKU, will cover the history of the park as they explain the nomination process and the efforts used to enable Big Bone Park to gain four prestigious awards since 1972 with a possible fifth award in the near future.

Where: Boone County Public Library, Main Branch, Meeting Room A
Address: 1786 Burlington Pike, Union, Kentucky
Phone: 859-342-2665

The Boone County Public Library is hosting a traveling exhibition about the famous explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.  The pair is best known for their cross-country expedition to the Pacific Ocean.  However, the explorers also visited Big Bone Lick in separate trips.

The exhibition titled “Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country” runs from July 1 through August 13, 2010.  It’s held at the Main Library at 1786 Burlington Pike, Burlington, KY.  The exhibit tells the story of Lewis & Clark’s 1804-1806 journey from the point of view of the Native Americans who lived along the route.

The exhibit has many special programs scheduled throughout July including a talk about Lewis and Clark visiting Big Bone Lick.  Stanley Hedeen, author of "Big Bone Lick: Cradle of American Paleontology," hosts the program at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 28, at the Main Library.

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson asked Lewis to stop at Big Bone Lick to collect bones and send them back to Jefferson before meeting up with Clark in Louisville.  Unfortunately the bones were lost when the boats carrying them sank at Natchez, Mississippi.

Undeterred, Jefferson sent Clark to Big Bone Lick in 1807 to retrieve another set of bones.  In 1808, Jefferson finally received his long-awaited shipment and arranged 300 big bones on the floor in a room at the White House.  (source)

More Information

In 1807, Thomas Jefferson sent General George Rogers Clark to Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, to collect fossils.  The site of an ancient salt lick, Big Bone Lick had once attracted Pleistocene-era mammoths, giant ground sloths and giant bison, which had died near the salt lick when they became trapped in the surrounding bogs, leaving a rich heritage of fossils.

In his letter shown below, Jefferson requests that General Rogers have the bones that Rogers had collected packed and shipped to a New Orleans collector, who would then forward them to Washington D.C.  (Source: Wikipedia)

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WFPL News 89.3 FM radio interviews Stanley Hedeen, author of the book Big Bone Lick: The Cradle of American Paleontology.  Hedeen discusses what was once considered North America’s greatest paleontological treasure, capturing the attention of George Washington, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

Stanley Hedeen is professor emeritus of biology and former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Xavier University.  He has written several books on the natural and environmental history of the greater Cincinnati region.

Listen to the Interview

Following are three clips from a Big Bone Lick State Park documentary that was produced, directed and filmed by Ron E. Lawson for Kentucky Educational Television.  KET started an Independent Producer’s Fund in 1991 to promote independent film production in Kentucky.  Lawson received one of the first grants from this fund.  He used the nominal grant to produce this half-hour program that was completed in August 1992.

Part 1:

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Cincinnati Museum Center Heritage Programs have been presenting historical, cultural and architectural tours for over 20 years.  Each month, Heritage Programs offer scheduled tours of unique sites of local or regional interest.  All tours include lunch unless specified.

On Friday, June 4, from 9 am to 3:30 pm, Cincinnati Museum Center Heritage Programs will tour Big Bone Lick State Park.  Cost is $70 for members, $75 for non-members.  The registration deadline is May 28.  Here is a description of the tour:

President Thomas Jefferson asked explorers Lewis and Clark to bring back animal remains from Big Bone Lick, now considered the “Birthplace of American Vertebrate Paleontology.”  Dr. Glenn Storrs, Withrow Farney curator of vertebrate paleontology, leads us through the trails of the Kentucky State Park while interpreting the Ice Age events that have preserved the fossilized remains of mastodons, wooly mammoths and ground sloths.  This tour involves long periods of standing and hiking up hills and through woods on uneven and wet trails, so please dress accordingly.

To register for a tour, call (513) 287-7031.  Please note that payment must be received at the time of booking.  For more information about the Heritage Program Tours, send an e-mail to: heritageprograms@cincymuseum.org.

The book, “The Legacy of the Mastodon: The Golden Age of Fossils in America” by Dr. Keith Stewart Thompson, gets its start in Big Bone Lick.  Quoting the official book description:

“The uncovering in the mid-1700s of fossilized mastodon bones and teeth at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, signaled the beginning of a great American adventure.  The West was opening up and unexplored lands beckoned.  Unimagined paleontological treasures awaited discovery: strange horned mammals, birds with teeth, flying reptiles, gigantic fish, diminutive ancestors of horses and camels, and more than a hundred different kinds of dinosaurs.

“This exciting book tells the story of the grandest period of fossil discovery in American history, the years from 1750 to 1890.  The volume begins with Thomas Jefferson, whose keen interest in the American mastodon led him to champion the study of fossil vertebrates.  The book continues with vivid descriptions of the actual work of prospecting for fossils–a pick in one hand, a rifle in the other–and enthralling portraits of Joseph Leidy, Ferdinand Hayden, Edward Cope, and Othniel Marsh among other major figures in the development of the science of paleontology.

“Shedding new light on these scientists’ feuds and rivalries, on the connections between fossil studies in Europe and America, and on paleontology’s contributions to America’s developing national identity, THE LEGACY OF THE MASTODON is itself a fabulous discovery for every reader to treasure.”