In 1799 unusually large bones and teeth of an animal resembling an elephant were discovered at a Montgomery, NY farm in Orange County.
When artist and naturalist Charles Willson Peale, known for his portraits of founding fathers like George Washington, heard about the Montgomery bones he rushed to purchase them and get permission from the farmer to dig for more.
For years he had sought a complete mastodon skeleton that he could display at the museum of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.
The Montgomery mastodon dig would go on to yield a near-complete specimen and his techniques would be known as the cornerstone of American paleontology and inspiration for the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
With over 150 mastodon fossils found statewide to date — about one-third in Orange County — the area remains New York’s premier hotspot for these ancient relatives of modern elephants.
Montgomery Town Historian Mary Ellen Matise will tell the story of this discovery of mastodon bones and the efforts to dig them from the ground during a free talk at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site on Saturday, March 28 at 1 pm.
Washington’s Headquarters is located at 84 Liberty Street, in Newburgh.
Read more about mastodons and mammoths in New York State.
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