In 1897, after a severe rainstorm in Richland County, farm boys Chris, Harry, Clyde
and Verne Dosch found large bones sticking out of an eroded bank on a tributary
of Mill Creek near Boaz. The bones were later identified as those of the extinct
American Mastodon, a large, hairy animal, nine feet tall and weighing eight tons,
related to modern elephants. This was the first recorded discovery of mastodon
bones in Wisconsin. Mastodons lived in North America from Florida to Alaska during
cool, wet times dominated by spruce forests. They had moved into Wisconsin
after the last glacial retreat about 13,000 years ago and lived here for the next 4,000
years when they became extinct. A fluted quartzite spear point found near the
bones suggests that humans also arrived in Wisconsin shortly after the glacial
retreat and may have hunted these animals for food. The assembled Boaz
Mastodon skeleton is on exhibit at the Geology Museum, University of Wisconsin-
Madison.
Erected 1995
Hwy 14, 5 mi. W of Richland Center, Richland County Wisconsin
|
Comments () |
|
|
|
|
|
Wisconsin 
