I just happened to come across the Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed while I was travel north from Fort Robinson to the Warbonnet Monument. It was not in any of my books. According to their brochure, this "is the largest bison bonebed (estimated to be about the size of a football field) of its age (nearly 10,000 years old) in the Western Hemisphere."
..."the bonebed resulted from a natural death event, not a bison jump. If humans were not responsible for the demise of the bison at this bonebed, then what caused them to die? It's still a mystery that intriges both visitors and scientists from around the world."
This place is really off the beaten path...
Click below to see the official website for Hudson-Meng
Wikipedia page about the site
This building protects the bones that have been exposed.
A close up of some of the bones.
Some of the bones that have not been completely excavated.
This particular type of Bison is now extinct.
Here are several websites about the Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed:
http://lamar.colostate.edu/~lctodd/hmsmry.htm
http://lamar.colostate.edu/~lctodd/hmphot.htm
http://www.humanpaleo.org/BiMeng.htm
Hudson Meng Bison Kill Site - Chadron, Nebraska
http://fossilfreeway.net/hudson.php
This is the Warbonnet Memorial.
It is in the northwest corner of Nebraska.
The marker on the memorial.
The entry from my book: "Colonel Wesley Merritt and Troops A, B, D, G, I, K, and M, Fifth Cavalry, found approximately 800 Indians near Hat Creek (War Bonnet), Wyoming. One Indian was killed, and another was wounded. The rest were forced back to their reservation at the Red Cloud Agency. The one Indian killed was Chief Yellow Hand. He was killed in the much heralded single combat with William 'Buffalo Bill' Cody."
A view from the monument.
Another view at the surrounding prairie from the hill were the monument was placed.
The church, and cemetery, is the "community" of Montrose (also from the monument).
This is the Cody - Yellow Hand Monument.
You can see the Warbonnet Monument is the background.
Yes, the famous "Buffalo Bill."
This is near Edgemont, South Dakota.
The area where Camp Collier once stood.
These are the Black Hills.
The Crazy Horse Monument is the last outcropping on the left.
A better look at Crazy Horse.
The visitor's area was closed when I got there.
An even better look. You can see a guardrail along the top of what is going to be his arm.
Click here to go to their official website
