Earl Douglass papers, 1879-1953

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Douglass, Earl, 1862-1931
Title
Earl Douglass papers
Dates
1879-1953 (inclusive)
Quantity
21.5 linear feet, (43 boxes and 1 oversize folder)
Collection Number
MS 0196
Summary
The Earl Douglass papers (1879-1953) consist of the family and business records of Earl Douglass (1862-1931), a paleontologist from Minnesota, including the records of the discovery, history, and development of Dinosaur National Monument. Click here to view the digitized materials from the collection or the links below.
Repository
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Earl Douglass, paleontologist, was born in Medford, Minnesota, 23 October 1862, the son of Fernando and Abigail Louisa Carpenter Douglass. He received his early education in the Medford schools and Pillsbury Academy in Owatonna, Minnesota. Subsequently he went to South Dakota, then Dakota, where he worked on a farm, taught school, and studied at the University of Dakota and the state agricultural college until 1890. During this period he made his first plant collection for an herbarium at the South Dakota Agricultural College.

In 1890 Earl Douglass went to Mexico on a botanical trip and after his return became assistant to Professor William Trelease at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in Saint Louis. There he studied systematic botany and plant histology at the Shaw School of Botany at Washington University. In 1892 he returned to the South Dakota Agricultural College. Suspended from the college in 1893 for publishing an article exposing corruption in the school, Douglass went to Iowa State College where he received his B.S. the same year.

During 1894-1900, Douglass conducted geological explorations in western Montana and taught school to pay expenses. There he gathered extensive collections of fossils. Of particular importance was his discovery of various tertiary beds containing extinct mammals and other vertebrates unknown to science. Earl Douglass received his M.S. degree at the University of Montana in 1899 and taught geology and physical geography there from 1899-1900.

From 1900-1902, Douglass held a fellowship in biology at Princeton University and studied geology, paleontology, osteology, and mammalian anatomy. In 1901 he accompanied a Princeton scientific expedition to the region of the Muscleshell River in Montana. During this expedition he discovered lower "eocene mammals in Ft. Union formation, thus settling a long continued dispute as to the age of these beds."

In 1902 Douglass became associated with the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, and the museum purchased his extensive collection of fossil remains he collected from Montana and South Dakota. He continued his work in Montana for the museum during part of 1902, and then returned to Pittsburgh. His studies of his collection of fossil remains from Montana appeared in the publications the Annals and Memoirs of Carnegie Museum between 1903 and 1910.

In 1905 Douglass was sent to collect vertebrate and invertebrate fossils in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho and to obtain, if possible, data to solve certain geological problems in that region. On October 20 of that same year Earl Douglass married Pearl Charlotte Goetschius in Sheridan, Montana.

From 1907 to 1924 Douglass devoted himself to the exploration of the fossiliferous strata of the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah. In 1909 he discovered the world famous dinosaur quarry near Jensen, Utah. The quarry now forms the nucleus for the present Dinosaur National Monument. From the quarry Earl Douglass collected a large number of fossils, mostly vertebrates, many of which were new to science. The fossils included dinosaurs of many families, genera, and species.

Earl Douglass resigned his position with Carnegie Museum in 1924, and was employed by the University of Utah to excavate dinosaur bones for their museum. After the bones were transferred to Salt Lake City, Douglass worked two years completing the difficult preliminary work in preparing the bones for mounting. At this point, Earl Douglass's employment with the university was terminated, and the memory of his contributions to the institution virtually obliterated. From this time until his death, Douglass was a consulting geologist for companies engaged in developing oil fields in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and Texas. During this period he did notable research on oil, oil shale, asphalts, and other mineral deposits, and left much unpublished material on these subjects.

Douglass's interest in botany, his first love, never subsided, and during the last years of his life he devoted more time to paleo-botany than to any other phase of paleontology. He left a valuable collection of fossil plants, leaves, and flowers.

Earl Douglass's published writings included The Neocene Lake Beds of Western Montana (thesis for M.S. degree, published in 1900), The Gilsonite Holdings of the Gilson Asphaltum Company in Utah and Colorado (an extensive report for the Gilson Asphaltum Company, 1928-29), and a number of scientific papers published primarily in the Annals of the Carnegie Museum, Science, American Journal of Science, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, and Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately, many of Douglass's discoveries were written up by other men and his contributions ignored because he was too busy to get to them.

William J. Holland of the Carnegie Museum, said of Douglass that "he added seventeen genera and eighty-three species to the ever growing list of fossil vertebrates. A great deal of his work related to the Merycoidodonts. He had mastered the entire literature relating to this interesting group. His collection, which was acquired by the Carnegie Museum, was rich in the remains of these animals. Important additions were made to it during his connection with the Museum, not only by himself, but by other members of the staff, and the Museum in consequence possesses one of the best assemblages in existence of material representing this long extinct group. Other additions which he made to our knowledge of the extinct mammals of North America were important. His careful observations upon the geology of the region where he collected are most valuable." There was not a good paleontological museum in the world that was not richer for Douglass's work.

On 31 January 1931, Earl Douglass died in Salt Lake City, Utah, age sixty-nine.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Earl Douglass papers (1879-1953) consist of the family and business records of Earl Douglass (1862-1931), a paleontologist from Minnesota, including the records of the discovery, history, and development of Dinosaur National Monument.

Click here to view the digitized materials from the collection or the links below.

Douglass worked for the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh during most of his productive years. He was responsible for the excavation and installation of the first dinosaur bones on display at the University of Utah Museum of Natural History. During 1928-29 Douglass worked for the Gilson Asphaltum Company. Correspondence, expense reports, and mineral surveys are a part of his scientific notes. The latter years of his life he was a consulting geologist for companies engaged in developing oil fields in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and Texas. The museum at Dinosaur National Monument showing dinosaur bones in relief is perhaps the single most lasting tribute to Earl Douglass. This collection of his papers is a record of his years of searching, working, writing, and photographing.

Earl Douglass wrote profusely. His writings include diaries, field notes, scientific notes, legions of correspondence (both personal and business), published articles, manuscripts, poetry, stories, and essays, as well as numerous reflections, musings, and notes on many subjects. He also collected maps and photographs. This is a nearly complete record of Douglass's life as he saved everything, even scraps of paper on which he took notes while in the field or while pondering philosophical issues at his desk. His autobiographical essays give an insight into his personal life as well as his thoughts and aspirations. The Douglass family is also documented through some genealogical records.

Earl Douglass's diaries cover the period 1884 to 1928 and are reflective in nature. Day-to-day activities are not recorded as often as day-to-day musings on his personal emotions. Filed at the end of the diaries is a manuscript titled "From the Diaries of Earl Douglass," by his son, G. E. Douglass.

Douglass's personal correspondence, especially with his wife Pearl, is another indication of the sensitivity of this man, and how his life was consumed with his work and personal philosophy. Douglass corresponded regularly with numerous friends and kept in close touch with professional associates. His correspondence with the staff of the Carnegie Museum, notably William J. Holland, the director, is especially informative concerning his work.

Earl Douglass's detailed descriptions of Dinosaur National Monument, specifically the dinosaur quarry, form what is perhaps the most complete analysis and history of the area and its special place in the field of American paleontology. A large number of scientific notes are included on topics ranging from fossils to rivers, some original, but most of them copied by Douglass from other sources and saved for future reference.

Douglass's formal writings are divided into two categories: technical and creative. His technical writings were published in scientific and popular journals and newspapers. Many of his manuscripts were not published. Douglass's creative writings, largely unpublished, are extensive and are both poetic and prose in form.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Separated Materials

See also the Earl Douglass photograph collection (P0196) in the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.

Processing Note

Processed by Paul Mogren in 1980 and others in the 1990s.

Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

I:  Personal MaterialsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Biographical Material
Box Folder
1 1
Autobiographical Sketches and Notes
In a short essay of nine pages dated 20 August 1926, Douglass commented on his "Personality." The text ranged from poetic self-analysis to lists of favorite books. Also included are comments on "hunting instincts" and "Geology," a description of his childhood to age nineteen, and his "Personality Principles" including "We do best what we love best." In a "Personality Sketch" on three separate pages Douglass looked at his birth and death from a philosophical point of view. He commented further on "Individuality" and his "Love of Loneliness." "Reminiscent Thoughts" close these autobiographical notes with random thoughts on his impressions of life including "Love," "The Everlasting Attraction of the River," "The Cruel War," "Fears of Boyhood," and "The Weird, Wild, Dreary and Desolate."
1 2
Biographical Sketches and Notes
The biography of Earl Douglass is in outline form dating from birth through young adulthood. Another chronology lists events in Douglass's life from his birth in 1862 to 1907. His days as a school teacher in Minnesota and Montana are well described, as is his initial employment with the Carnegie Museum in 1902.
1 3
Biographical Sketches and Notes
In forty handwritten pages Douglass wrote an account of his life. He attempted to "picture the thoughts and feelings of a real living human being." The text was written in third person and related Douglass's own life story from a detached perspective. This text appears to have been written while he was a student at South Dakota Agricultural College, 1894.
1 4
Biographical Materials
Earl Douglass obituaries from XX (1931); 13 January 1931; and 73 (8 May 1931).
1 5
Family Genealogy
Pearl Douglass outlined the Douglass genealogy from 1871 to 1906. Commercial items are also included from an organization called the Douglass Genealogy or the Douglass Family.
1 6
Mormon Country , by Wallace Stegner
Photocopy of a chapter in the book about Douglass and his discovery of the dinosaur bones in Jensen, Utah, 1909. The chapter is titled "Notes on a Life Spent Pecking at a Sandstone Cliff."
1 7
Fernando Douglass
Obituary of 28 March 1916 in an Owatonna, Minnesota newspaper. This obituary was based on a life sketch written by Douglass which is included.
1 8
Pearl Goetschius Douglass
Personal materials including teaching records from Alder, Montana, where Pearl taught in 1905. Also included are brief records of the Goetschius family genealogy. Pearl's death on 15 June 1955 is announced by telegram from Gawin Douglass to G. C. Goetschius, Alder, Montana.
1 9-10
Earl Douglass--Schools
Alumni notices from the South Dakota Agricultural College, State University of Montana, and Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
1 11
Earl Douglass--School Records
Teacher training, notes on teaching, and a teaching contract.
1 12
Earl Douglass--Honorary Societies
Honorary societies--Pi Gamma Mu, The Luther Burbank Society, and the Cliosophic Society of Princeton University.
1 13
Gawin Douglass--School Records
Huntington Beach, California, Union High School.
1 14
Pearl Douglass--Recipe and Account Book
1 15
Nettie Douglass--Autograph Album
Records of Fernando Douglass, Gawin Douglass, Family Vacation Log, and Lone Tree Betterment Society
Box Volume
2 1
Fernando Douglass
"Reminiscence of the Life of Fernando Douglass and Family," dictated by Fernando Douglass and recorded by Earl Douglass.
2 2
Gawin Douglass
"Record of Gawin Earl Douglass," 30 January 1908 to 30 January 1925, kept by his mother Pearl Douglass. Record of personal growth and achievements.
2 3
"Vacation Trip, Uinta Mountains"
Earl, Pearl, and Gawin Douglass began a trip to the Uinta Mountains 28 September 1912 as a family vacation. This is a log of the trip. The ending date for the trip is unclear.
1912
2 4
"Records of the Lone Tree Betterment Society"
This society, headed by Earl Douglass, was composed of concerned citizens in Jensen, Utah, who wanted to start a school and foster other cultural activities in the area. A list of members is included. All notes were taken by Douglass.
1915-16
Land and Business Records
Box Folder
3 1
Property in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Real estate records from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the period 1904-23 while Douglass was employed by Carnegie Museum. The 1923 records show the sale of two lots owned by Douglass.
3 2
Carnegie Museum
Correspondence between the Industrial Commission of Utah and Carnegie Museum, 1921, regarding insurance for employees at the quarry. Statements from a machine company in Vernal to Carnegie Museum for tools and other supplies, and other business accounts related to the quarry.
3 3
Desert Land Claims
Papers relating to the Desert Land Claim of Nettie Douglass near Jensen, Utah, approved in 1915. Included are papers continuing from the death of Nettie in 1923 to 1927 in an attempt to transfer rights to Earl Douglass.
3 4
Public Land Lease--Pearl Douglass
Public Land Lease information on Pearl Douglass's lease in Uintah County, 1920.
3 5
Land Grant--Earl Douglass
Land Grant of Earl Douglass with related correspondence and records.
3 6
Uintah County Property
Tax Notices, 1924-26, on properties in Uintah County held by Earl and Pearl Douglass.
3 7
Salt Lake City Property
Business records, 1929-35, of Pearl Douglass on her property in Salt Lake City, Utah.
3 8
Land in Dinosaur National Monument
Financial records, 1931-37, and a series of letters, 1931, between Congressman Don B. Colton and Pearl's attorney attempting to persuade the federal government to purchase the Douglass property adjoining Dinosaur National Monument. In one letter the suggestion is again made that Earl Douglass's name be added to the Monument, that he be given credit for the discovery and development of the area.
3 9-10
Miscellaneous Business Records

II:  Earl Douglass Diaries, 1884-1928Return to Top

The diaries of Earl Douglass are personal in nature and describe not only what Douglass did day after day, but also record his thoughts and emotions. Each diary is dated and Douglass's location is given. Entries have been excerpted to illustrate Douglass's activities, thoughts, and aspirations.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Volume
4 1
Minnesota
Douglass taught school during the winter, worked on the family farm, attended Pillsbury Academy in Owatonna, and resumed teaching in November.
  • 2 January--"Our lives are books. Each day a page is written, good or evil .... Perhaps it [this diary] will not be kept as diaries commonly are but I shall try to use it in the way it will be most beneficial. I want to record here the things that I need to remember or refer to. If I have learned anything during the day, I want to write it down to streangthen my memory. Thoughts and suggestions, plans and means with references to my work, articles written with view of having them published may be written here. Also my hopes & fears, and dangers, criticisms, short poems, and stanzas of longer ones, quotations, thoughts on religious subjects, etc. etc. In fact anything that I choose and consider beneficial."
  • 5 June--"Went over to Freds store and sat a long time reading the newspaper . . . .It seems as though the moral foundation on which society rests is like the loose unstable sand .... Men were losing the morality as fast as they are gaining in the arts, invention and the sciences. Freedom and patriotism are dead. Love of money and love of pleasure are the craze of the age. No fit men can be placed at the head of the nation .... Virtuous men and chaste women are growing fewer and fewer. The only thing that could prevent this, it seems to me is faith in the Bible. People are passing out of superstition into infidelity. Men always go from one extreme to the other. They judge the Bible by their and their grandfathers opinion of it. It teaches what their grandfathers understood it to teach or nothing. It may take even greater knowledge of science than man yet have to understand its teachings perfectly. We can not judge it by present opinions relating to science that has not been fully established."
1884
4 2
Minnesota
Douglass taught school and between terms attended Pillsbury Academy for teachers in Owatonna and worked at odd jobs.
  • 20 November--"Sent for a Microscope .... This is a humble beginning in microcosopy but I intend to get a higher priced instrument if I get so that I can afford it. I have longed and wished and hoped for a microscope for years and dreamed of the pleasure and instruction it would afford."
  • 5 December--"Not withstanding my almost vows always to remain as I am and my resolves never to be tied by that hard knot of wedlock, yet the heart that loves loses all resolve but to obtain the object of that love. Yet it probably will pass off like the aurora at dawn and the heart be freer yet sadder."
1885
4 3-4
Minnesota, South Dakota, diary 3 | Minnesota, South Dakota, diary 4
Douglass taught school in Minnesota and went to live with his sister Ida Battin on her homestead in Iroquois, South Dakota. He worked on farms until winter, and secured a job teaching in South Dakota until the spring of 1887.
  • 28 October--"This day I was 24 ys old. Oh I wish! How I do wish it were not so. It makes my heart ache when I think of it. What has been my life and where is it gone .... Where is that nobility and greatness I have been dreaming of .... Where are the wonderful things I was going to do? All undone. Alas is not life only dreaming and death waking up."
1886
4 5
South Dakota
Douglass taught school in South Dakota and boarded with his sister Ida Battin.
  • 28 October--"Today ends the first 25 ys of my life and it is a sad thought to me. I have lived a quarter of a century. As I look back over the years that I have lived it seems like ages, as I think of my earlier remembrances .... My aspiration [is] to be a poet, an author, an orator [?], a traveller, a scientist, an artist, a naturalist and a mining [?] expert, through all a first class teacher."
1887
4 6
South Dakota
Douglass attended spring term at the University of South Dakota, was a book salesman during the summer and fall, and taught school the latter part of the year.
  • 11 April--"Have about decided on my studies. They are Geology, Eng, Grammar, English Literature Botany and think I will spend about a half an hour each day on drawing. This will give me about all I can possibly do but desire to gain all I can and learn all I can about teaching as well as gaining knowledge."
  • 30 July--"Have been reading over the rules for canvassing & c. and thinking of the debts I have got to meet before very long and for a few moments almost despaired. Heartily wished I had never heard of the business [selling books]. It was only my overwhelming desire to get an education that ever induced me to do it."
1888
4 7
South Dakota
Douglass attended the South Dakota Agricultural College in Brookings, began a herbarium at the college, and returned to teaching school. This diary contains a great deal of shorthand.
  • 8 March--"Do not know how I shall like the school but think I will learn something. I must learn to appreciate these privileges while I have them. Have longed and pined and almost languished to be in school and be getting an education."
  • 11 July--"He [professor at the college] had wanted to get up a college herbarium but had not time himself. He said he would see the Prest. ... he decided to let me work 4 hours a day."
  • 9 September--"Began shorthand today. I intend to use it as fast as I learn it."
  • 31 December--"It has been years since I have had a strong faith in a future life beyond the grave . . . . I think the best we can do is to make the world a little better, a little nobler, for our being in it .... I have broken away from the former ties to some extent .... I so dreaded to give pain to my mother, father, sisters and friends but ... I felt I must if I would be honest. I wrote to the church to which I belonged to have my name taken from the church book. I know not what they did but I did my duty in the matter."
1889
4 8
South Dakota
This diary was kept in conjunction with Diary 7. Some entries refer to Professor Orcott and going to the college farm for specimens, indicating Douglass was at South Dakota Agricultural College at the time he kept this journal. He included poetry, philosophy, science, and nature study entries in the journal. The last entry is 30 June 1889.
  • 25 March--"I have for some time wanted a kind of a Journal not to write in every day but to write the results of observation--things too important to be trusted to memory--scientific investigations, or any thing that I wish to write and preserve. essays, sketches, poems, &c."
  • "The Microscope--There is a pleasure in the study of nature if we only study it aright; and yet how few there are that have a real deep, enthusiastic interest in it. . . .
  • "It seems to me that the wonders and beauties have been increased 10 fold by the Micro. There are thousands of things all around us revealed by its transforming power."
1889
4 9
South Dakota, Mexico, Missouri
Douglass taught school, attended South Dakota Agricultural College at Brookings, prepared a college herbarium, collected plants in Mexico, and worked at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in Saint Louis. This diary is written almost entirely in shorthand.
1890
4 10-11
Missouri, diary 10 | Missouri, diary 11
Douglass worked at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in Saint Louis as curator of the herbarium.
1891
4 12
Missouri, South Dakota
Douglass worked at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in Saint Louis, took classes at the South Dakota Agricultural College in Brookings, and taught school in South Dakota. There is extensive use of shorthand in this diary.
  • 16 November--"The board of Regents have been in session at Aberdeen and have outdone their old record. They have removed Profs. Kerr, Aldrich, Orcutt, Lapham .... they say the whole town is indignant."
  • 21 November--"My first days teaching for over 2 years ....
  • "Search to know for knowledge liveth
  • Tho the mind that fadeth dies.
  • It may leave a grain of knowledge
  • That into the heavens shall rise."
1892
4 13
South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana
After finishing the term teaching in Minnesota, Douglass returned to the South Dakota Agricultural College in Brookings. He was expelled from the school and continued his education at Iowa State College in Ames, earning his B.S. in 1893. He accepted a teaching position after graduation in the lower Madison Valley, Montana, where he was able to go fossil hunting.
  • 1 January 1893--"I am sorry to say that I never have made a very great success of anything. I have been pegging away at books for fifteen years or more but have read very few, and with all this pretending to be studious have learned very little and am thorough in nothing.
  • "I have sometimes thought I had some genius but that fond delusion is often dispelled by the sunlight of truth."
  • 9 February 1893--"They are going to investigate the Brookings College troubles at Pierre."
  • 4 April 1893--"We expect to be expelled, that is we feel we are very likely to go if we have any such thing printed [proposed newspaper article]. But we are cowards, it seems to me if we do not heroically stand up for right."
  • 8 April 1893--"They had faculty meetings .... Messers Menzer, . . . and myself were called up and . . . fired or suspended . . . and were to leave by Sunday night."
  • 6 November 1893--"After months of suspense, doubts and fears my case is decided at last and I am to graduate, and what I have wished for and hoped for for 10 years or more is on the point of fulfillment. ... In the bottom of my being I am glad it is so and I would not for thousands of dollars have it otherwise yet I have no great happiness, no marvelous exhuberance of spirits."
  • 14 January 1894--"I am in exceedingly poor circumstances as in fact the worst I have [been] for years [I] see little or no hope [that] things will be better for a good while." [Bracketed material is in shorthand.]
  • 13 April 1894--"Yesterday I recd a letter from Prof. Foster saying that he had a school for me at $35.00 per month and board in the best geological region in that part of the state. This morning I telegraphed him accepting the position."
1893-1894
4 14
Montana
Douglass taught school in several locations, but his primary interest was in collecting fossil specimens.
  • 21 April 1895--"I found just above a little clay rock exposure some small pieces of bones and teeth. I picked them up and concluded by the fragments that they were Rhinoceros teeth. Dug a little and found there were more bones there so went over to where my horse was and got pick. . . . and began to dig. I dug carefully and found that the greater part of the skull was there with the upper teeth. Then I found both remains of the lower jaw both with teeth . . . [I] dared not go further as they are very frail. I fear I cannot get them out whole but am going to work carefully and try to .... If I can in any way get them out and preserve their shape I intend to do it if it takes a week. They will be valuable specimens."
1895-1896
4 15
Montana
Douglass received his M.S. degree from the University of Montana at Missoula, spent the summer on a fossil collecting expedition, and then worked for the university preparing the specimens collected on the expedition.
  • 13 June--"Drove up to the University, getting there at just about the time appointed. I was called into the room where the faculty, board and class of '99 were. The class had on their college robes and I felt rather out of place, but did not worry much about it. Soon we went up to the chapel. Mr [blank] of the Anaconda Standard read the address and the diplomas were presented to us. I had the honor of being the first to receive the Masters degree in the University. I have not been working for the degree but for the love of the work but the degree is very acceptable just the same."
  • 19 June--"I am at work on my thesis most of the time getting it ready for publication."
  • 27 September--"The indications are that my journal is dying a lingering death and is to be a thing of the past .... There are so many things to which I shall wish to refer to later."
  • 18 November--"I find that this summers collection is richer even than I supposed. The camel skeleton that we obtained S.E. of New Chicago is near complete, though there are no jaws and teeth. The Palaeanenyx [prehistoric deer] skeleton near the same place is one of the best I have found so that I can almost restore Palarneyx. What I thought was Merycochoerus [one of the extinct Oreodonts] is a new genus if not a new Order. A fragment of jaw I have been cleaning today proves to be not only a good part of a jaw but a good portion of skull and perhaps a new genus."
1899
5 16
Montana, Missouri, New Jersey
Douglass collected specimens in Montana at several sites, taught classes at the University of Montana, and received a fellowship to attend Princeton University for advanced study.
  • 4 March--"I was up to the university yesterday also. There is so much to do besides this work [preparing fossils]. There I have to teach Geology, Physics and physiology with at least three afternoons occupied with laboratory practice [his position was only part time with the university]. I heard that one professor wants me to have the other days occupied. If the president insists that I must take the laboratory work in Physiology, I will not have much time except Saturdays and I will have to work Sundays I fear .... I do not think it is right that I should be expected to do as much as other professors who get 3 or 4 times as much."
  • 13 October--"Some of the later additions to my collection were some nice fossil leaves . . . and portions of a Mosasourus? . . . The latter has the skull and the jaw and a lot of the vertebra. It is a fine specimen."
1900
5 17
New Jersey, Montana, Pennsylvania
Douglass attended Princeton University, collected specimens in Montana, and in May 1902 was employed by the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.
  • 26 October 1900--"They [Princeton] have a fine collection of modern skeletons one of the best if not the best in America, so I am trying to make good use of my opportunities in this line."
  • 30 October 1900--"Day before yesterday was my birthday but I forgot all about it until the next day. Only to think 38 ys old and still living. It seems as though I have lived an awful while. It seems almost like hundreds of years. And what a strange life it has been, at least it seems so to me. Here I am in the neighborhood of 40 and still struggling to get an education. The riches that every boy thinks will be his before this age has not yet appeared. About all I possess are books, bones and team wagon . I am about where I ought to have been 15 years ago .... But I am still a student because that is all that satisfies me."
  • 11 May 1901--"My Pearl is faithful and kind and true and affectionate. It is settled between us that we are to share each others fate but she wants to go to school another year and I want a good position. Probably shall return to Princeton but to think of being separated so far from her more than another year makes my heart faint but seems that it must be. I want to get a position in Montana."
  • 24 September 1901--"The 19 of Aug. . . . While going along the hill and slowly ascending I saw a piece of fossil tooth. ... I looked around and found another piece and then a smaller one that nearly made the tooth complete. 'That looks like a mammal tooth,' thought I. 'Is it possible that there is any reptile that has a tooth like that?' I was not a sufficiently expert paleontologist to be certain but looking around I saw a little premolar that settled the thing forever. I had found mammal remains. It was one of those discoveries that make a paleontologist happy. I examined the shale carefully and systematically and found more fragments .... I had found mammals in strata that I thought was way back in the Creta[ceous] or border time between the Creta[ceous] and Tertiary." [This discovery by Douglass determined the geological age of the Fort Union formation, which had been in dispute for forty years.]
  • 23 December 1901--"I started to write something for the newspapers [']The Hist, of a Donosaur,' with sketches . I am so anxious to get out the paper .... I spend nearly all my time on that. I think I will have something like 30 new species. I have described about 30."
  • 9 January 1902--"Prof Scott and Mr. Farr were looking at the Lower Eocene things. Prof. Scott said they were very interesting .... He wishes me to publish a notice of the finding of fossils here, and to send the set of leaves ... to the U. S. Geol. Sur. for determination so we can fix the thing and if possible settled the age of the Ft. Union beds."
  • 4 February 1902--"After Prof Scott requested me to send a notice of the discovery of [illegible] mammal from Mont. to science, .... I went to work, got immensely interested got book after book and read and read the discoveries concerning the Laramie and Ft Union Beds. Went to New York to compare and identify the fossils, and then to Philadelphia to look up literature then came back and read again came to conclusion after conclusion independently and then found other men had come to the same conclusions or had suggested the same ideas before."
  • 13 March 1902--"Today I recd a letter [wanting] . . . to know if I would engage with the Carnegie Museum as Asst Curator. I have spoken to Prof Scott, Farr and my friend Miller and they all think it is the thing for me. I think it is the only thing now. I [would] rather be a prof. in a Univ in the west perhaps or a state Geol. yet this will allow me to devote my time more exclusively to my favorite work. I had been just a little blue about my immediate future for the last few days. This makes things look brighter or will if I get it?"
1900-1902
5 18
Pennsylvania
Douglass worked at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.
  • 15 November 1902--"I have been inspired to rise above these little mean things like jealousy and resentment. I hope it is my privilege to live in a higher atmosphere. If I can rise above it, I can find that love my soul craves, even if Pearl marries some one else. I may never love any individual as I have her. I don't expect it. I do not think I will ever marry though of course I cannot tell."
  • 18 November 1902--""It has been a life long struggle with poverty and poverty has so far gained the day."
1902-1903
5 19
Pennsylvania, Montana
Douglass worked at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh and collected specimens in Montana.
  • 3 September--"Dewey [Montana] is an old mining camp badly run down. There are a quite a good many log cabins and stores but mostly empty. There is one very neat hotel and one fair store.
  • Wisdom was a surprise to me. There are two nice general merchandise stores, two or three hotels, meat market, Barber shop, Laundry, Drug store. It is a little place too all in a bunch and things look new and it is one of the nicest little burgs I have seen anywhere."
1903
5 20
Montana
Douglass collected specimens in Montana.
1903
5 21
Montana, Pennsylvania
Douglass continued to work at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh and to collect specimens in Montana.
  • 28 October 1903--"This is my birthday and I am 41 years old. I don't know that I need to be melancholy and stop to wail about the shortness of life and the approach of old age . . . .
  • "My health is about as good as ever and I think I feel younger than I used to. I did not used to think I would live to be 40. I am happy much of the time but the deep undercurrent of melancholy--the sadness for the worlds sufferings comes up into consciousness and makes me sad. I want to find a religion that will reconcile me to these things. I think sometimes that I will find it in time."
1903-1904
5 22
Pennsylvania
Douglass worked at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.
  • 8 June 1904--"I am happy most of the time now. I have to economize with extreme care since I made my last venture [he has purchased a house and now a lot in anticipation of his forthcoming marriage] .... For example I have only 7 or 8 dollars to last me 2 weeks and 3 of that I owe if the man comes after it. . . .It was for plumbing .... Well I have 2 meal tickets, $1.55 at Kings and $2.05 at the Cozy. So I may make it. This is not reckoning the $4.10 for the first weekly payment on my lot."
  • 29 July 1904--"One of my greatest troubles now is absent mindedness about little things. I must break myself of it."
  • 31 July 1904--"I have gotten along splendidly with my writing on my new paper. ... I have a chance to work now and I am going to work. If I can do the work I have to do I can get where they cannot hold me here unless they pay me a decent salary. . . . Dr. Holland treated me curiously tonight and it was a surprise to me but I probably deserve it. ... I have been too quiet and retiring. Such people are always looked down on."
  • 18 September 1904--"I have begun to take the story writing course with the West Press Association and my time is well occupied."
  • 20 February 1905--"A short time ago I recd a check from Mines & Minerals to pay for my article in that magazine, Source of Gold in Alder Gulch. It was for $21.50 the first money I ever recd for writing."
1904-1905
5 23
Pennsylvania, Montana
Douglass worked at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh and gathered fossils in Montana. He and Pearl Goetschius were married on 20 October 1905. Diary entries are scattered.
  • 28 December 1907--"I haven't lost faith in myself and that has in the past been one of my worst failings. But I think one reason for that is there is one who knows, who understands me and appreciates me. This bears me up. Let the world think as it will for awhile. I am young yet in spirit and there is yet a chance to prove my ability."
1905-1907
5 24
Pennsylvania, Minnesota
Douglass worked for Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh and collected specimens in Utah. His wife Pearl stayed for some time with her in-laws in Medford, Minnesota. The diary entries are both Earl's and Pearl's.
  • 3 April 1907--"Had an indignation meeting at the Museum, four of us. Have found definitely that one man's salary has been raised to $2000 while other men just as essential for the museum are left with a meager salary hardly enough to live on. It is considered nothing less than an outrage. The way things are run at the museum is certainly surprising to those who have not been initiated."
  • 5 April 1907--"I have been helping get some things in the cases today. ... We will undoubtedly be able to get our exhibit in shape if we can get a couple more cases. We have a lot of unique specimens but I do not consider the hall at all fitted for exhibition and the doctor will not let those who are capable of doing so arrange things and to my notion and that of others his taste and judgment are extremely poor. It is too bad that such a man must occupy such a place."
  • 6 April 1907--"The papers announce that Carnegie has announced the amount of his gift to the Institute and Technical School. The amount is stated as $6000000, $4000000 of which is for the Institute. It looks now as if we could tell pretty soon whether our promises have been all chaff or are sincere. If I am not treated somewhere near right in the way of a salary I shall begin to prepare to get out. I feel somewhat sore about the salary business and I fear I shall until I am treated right. . . . If he [director of Carnegie Museum] will not give me a decent salary after I have been preparing for so many years I hope he will print my papers."
  • 7 April 1907--"The view we are now getting of the past by discovery of fossil animals and plants makes the present world ever new to us, giving to everything a wider interest and a greater significance. Every little untouched spot of brushwood, every tree, every plant suggests new ideas and is a little window for a world of the imagination."
  • 13 April 1907--"The front part of the Institute building is beautiful. The museum part might be much better or much worse. We are yet in suspense as to our fates--that is as to our salaries. I have been contemplating taking the Civil Service Examination for aide in Geology in the U. S. Geol. Sur. but do not want to leave here. My heart is in the work and I wish to spend at least another year here and round up that work. I do not feel that I will ever, now after waiting all these years, get the salary I ought to have."
  • 23 April 1907--(Pearl Douglass) "I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Mr. Carnegie talk. He is a little man with white hair and a very strong blue eye. I believe he has a heart full of sympathy for the people in general but I wonder if he feels that they receive as much from his libraries etc as he intends they shall. Sometimes I almost wish the dedication had never come but theoretically I know it is best. Sometimes it seems more pleasant to live in hopes of something better coming than to witness the realities of life."
  • 31 May 1907--"We are somewhat anxious just now. I have made application for a trip to the Big Horn Basin or to the Uinta Basin. I made the application before founders day and have not heard the decision yet. I want to go to Utah. ... I wish I could go to collect fossil mammals. It is what I have wished to do for years."
  • 8 March 1908--"We were counting on a small baby and we were surprised at his size. He weighed about 10 pounds and was a stout healthy well formed fellow. The doctor said, 'Its a great big boy,' or something of that kind and Pearl said, 'Oh my I'm glad of that.' She was determined to have a boy and would not talk girl."
1907-1908
5 25
Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Utah
Douglass worked for Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, visited his relatives in Minnesota, and looked for fossils in Utah.
  • 3 June--"Got this book today .... Wanted a handy notebook to take out west. Do not expect to always cling closely to days and dates.
  • "There are many things that I wish to remember and keep something like the sequence of events. Sometimes one event a day would serve as a string to hold many remembrances. I have made a mistake in not having this in the past."
  • 23 June--"Told Dr. Holland I was ready to go and wanted to start the evening of the next day. 'All right,' he said. He asked if anyone was going with me. I said no and that my wife was going to Minnesota & to Mont.... It was the first time I could get him to talk or listen. He has seemed very peculiar about the expeditions this year."
  • 6 August--"In the morning (4th) I recd several letters. One from Dr. Holland which made me change my plans as he wished me to dig up Dinosaur bones east of Vernal. He seemed somewhat disgruntled, made me a little hot. He seemed to think I wasn't doing much. He had recd the letter I sent to Stewart which as the latter didn't understand such things was not very enthusiastic."
  • 8 August--"I went out and took a walk in the country N. of Vernal and took a few pictures. It was hot as blazes. It seems to me that it's almost always hot in this country, but I suppose it isn't in the winter, and you get in a cool place near the water and in the shade and the flies, mosquitoes and midges are there to persecute you."
  • 12 August--"Went out prospecting again coming out of the gulch I went in the day before. Found Dinosaur bones but nothing good. Saw broken remains of a little fellow. Once in awhile one can get a good limb bone here and I do not doubt that there are good specimens to be had but they don't appear to be very common."
  • 17 August--"At last in the top of the ledge where the softer overlying [sandstone] beds form a divide--a kind of saddle I saw eight of the tail bones of a Brontosaurus in exact position. It was a beautiful sight. Part of the ledge had weathered away and several of the vertebra had weathered out and the beautifully petrofied centra lay on the ground. It is by far the best looking Dinosaur prospect I have ever found. The part exposed is worth preserving anyway."
  • 18 August--"It is natural for one to picture a whole skeleton head and all. Things look so good that this is almost unavoidable. But one is liable to be disappointed. But if it were whole the rest of it!! My !!!"
  • 19 August--"The construction of a road to the Dino. does not seem so difficult--the difficulty lessens but that of getting out the Dino. in good shape increases. It is going to be a tremendous job. But it will be one of the greatest specimens if it is all there. I hope at least to get a hind foot. If the Vertebrae were all in position it will be an astounding job. But there is a way. Of all things I must not injure the specimen by carelessness or want of skill."
  • 22 August--"Today two loads of people came from Vernal to see the Dinosaur and there were several loads from other places. . . . For a time the rocks that never had the impress of a womans foot and seldom that of a man swarmed with people of all ages. Mothers and grandmothers ascended the steep, almost dangerous slopes, with babes and there were men and women well along in years. . . . I think some were disappointed in not seeing the whole 60 feet of the animal with the bones all uncovered."
  • 3 September--"Today we built a wagon road from the terminus of the road we had used before, up as far as we will be able to go with the wagon. Used picks, shovels, plow and scraper. ... We have a good part of the trail built also."
  • 4 September--"We are having trouble now getting coal and Giant Powder but we know where we can get them. ... I hope we will soon be able to spend full days at work on the Brontosaurus."
  • 7 September--"Recd. Giant powder today, caps and coal for sharpening picks."
  • 8 September--"Worked quite a little at the Dinosaur.
  • "Some of it is extremely frail. ... It will require great care and skill to get out right. Used some plaster today to protect frailest portions."
  • 23 September--"The Brontosaurus is more disturbed than I thought it was at first, but just how much I can't tell. It seems [to be] going nearly straight down now."
  • 1 October--"We usually get up ... near six o'clock. I go and quickly start the fires. Pearl gets up and usually Gawin wakes up so she has to dress him. I help get breakfast which consists of usually three or four of the following. Pork, Ham, Bacon, Eggs, Hot Biscuits, Johnny Cake, Corn Fritters, Cream of Wheat, sometimes pancakes, Coffee, Bread, Butter.
  • "After breakfast the men go out to the forge and sharpen their picks and drills. I do some work about camp, packing specimens. Pearl puts up lunch. Clarence drives up we put in lunch, water bag .... At river we stop to water horses and get water. When we get to fossil grounds Jim usually goes to drilling and the others to hauling, shoveling picking. I tend to the work near the skeleton."
  • 18 October--"As far as success in my work is concerned I could not ask for more. For years I have wanted to get nearly complete skeletons. I had found much that was scientifically interesting but felt I had not found such complete things as I wanted to and others were ahead in this respect and there is no skeleton in the museum set up that I have collected. Now I have suddenly most of the skeleton of a large Dinosaur, apparently the most complete that has been found and now there is as good a prospect of a little fellow which probably will be new. Then there is a good part of another skeleton--not so nicely preserved."
  • 11 December--"Recd a letter and check from the Burell Syndicate. The check was for the Devil's Play Ground. I did not expect to get less than $40 or $50. ... It sold for $20 I suppose or I got $18. Well that is better than nothing and I guess it paid for the pictures."
  • 14 December--"This is a day to be remembered as we took down the first really big specimen--part of the neck of No. 25. I[t] was somewhat of a surprise as it seems that we have only one series of the vertebrae of the neck instead of two as I supposed. With our pulleys anchored in the cliff above three of us eased the thing down while Jim levered[?] at and steadied it down with a crow bar. It came where I wanted it and right side up some of the bones of course were broken where [the] block parted but that had to be."
  • 31 December--"My ambition has been satisfied in many ways this year. I discovered a new locality for fossil mammals in the Wasatch, and I have probably found the best Brontosaurus and small Dinosaur. I did not care to do quarry work but the magnitude and glory of them both have spurred my ambition and it is [a] tower[?] of interest and pleasure. . . .
  • "We are getting better and better fixed financially. We have been wading in debt since we were married. . . . Now it is easier and we are living the simple life and we both earn something and have our board paid."
1909
5 26
Utah
Includes typescript titled "Journal of Earl Douglass" containing nature studies. Also includes random diary entries from about 1902-1905.
1909-1910
Folder
6 1
Utah
Typescript of Diary 27.
1910
Volume
6 27
Utah
Douglass spent almost the entire year at the dinosaur quarry. In November he began the trip to return to Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.
  • 5 January--"We all went up to the diggings in the forenoon. Moved a good deal of dirt. We are beginning down low and preparing to sink[?] down 15 to 20 feet."
  • 6 January--"Very cold. We think it is about down to -40°. Clear. I did not suffer much working. A fellow has to look out for his ears, nose, and toes."
  • 11 January--"Raymond sent a clipping from the Gazette Times in which it was stated that Carnegie has provided means for the getting out and setting up of three[?] Dinosaurs. I hope it is so. It would be too hard on the Museum and I fear the work would be delayed."
  • 2 March--"There are lots of insects now, especially flies. . . . Spend most of the time--regular hours at the Dinosaurs. . . . Worked from dusk in the morning until dusk at night. This evening spaded some garden, put dirt on ice house, . . . etc. I do enjoy working here. If we stay I intend to make this one of the coziest, prettiest places one ever saw."
  • 21 March--"In the forenoon uncovered the large dinosaurs and began shellacing the one just found getting ready to plaster and make it more secure . ... To get out in blocks so we can handle them is the worst problem I have had to face and I am anxious to get it done."
  • 23 March--"This afternoon plastered spine ... of No 1. I have concluded to try to get the ilium & sacrum together. It will make a block about 7' x 7', say 5 cu. yds. at 2 tons per cu. yd. would be ten tons. ... If I could get that boxed and down the hill I would think I could to the rest."
  • 30 March--"I think we have solved another important problem that has bothered me. There have been two hard puzzles ... in connection with this work. Two were to get blocks enclosed so they would hold together and to box them securely. One problem I have solved with woven wire and plaster and the other by not boxing. We made a bottom of 2 x 4 cross pieces and boards lengthwise and are crating things. . . . they will take only perhaps one third the amount of lumber. I think by shellacing the plaster the rain will not hurt them."
  • 9 April--"Getting ready to shoot behind No. 1. Plastered ends of tail bones and a specimen a little distance away which I had thought might be tail. . . . Took up a chunk and sure enough it was a nice tail bone. Picked up another chunk and there was the next in exact position. ... It looked as if after all we were to get the tail of No. 1. I had half given that up. I dug a little for third. Guessed it ended there. Dug a little more. Hurra[h]! it was there in place. A little space between evidently for cartilage. ... It does look as if we are to get an almost complete skeleton."
  • 19 April--"He [Dr. Holland] seemed struck almost dumb by the magnitude of the work, the labor necessary to get the things out. I felt disappointed as I felt so sure he would be greatly pleased. He did not say much, however."
  • 25 April--"His [Dr. Holland's] visit has brought back some of the old feeling toward him. I think he is unjust and unappreciative. We expected approbation for we knew we had been faithful, but got little but censure. If I had had another position and these things were not so interesting--it being a chance of a lifetime I would quit and see if he could do any better. There is no use in a man being so unappreciative when it is as much for his honor and that is what he wants. I do as much as any man on the force and yet he is always digging around[?]."
  • 25 May--"Digging getting more interesting. Hate to quit at noon and night. . . . The stratum is full of bones. . . . Bones are going diagonally through cliff. Looks like a delta deposit and the current to east."
  • 2 June--"Finding new bones nearly every day we work. In the morning we went up to spring and made a reservoir. It is getting so we can hardly get water in the middle of the day. . . . With a reservoir too I think we will have no trouble in irrigating the garden."
  • 1 July--"In the evening Mrs. Douglass had a bad spell with her heart or whatever it is. It was the longest spell of the kind she has ever had I think. I was pretty nearly scared."
  • 7 July--"The doctor thinks Pearl will soon be better. Is going to send me some medicine too. There is no organic trouble with Pearls heart. It is the nerves which control it."
  • 8 July--"He [paleontologist from Field Museum in Chicago] expressed little or no surprise at what we think are great discoveries. In fact made no words of commendation, though nearly half a dinosaur . . . was ... in view, and a good part of another. He seemed a little queer to me."
  • 23 July--"No words can express the damnations of this life some phases of it. Anyone who looks only at this life and isn't pessimistic is a fool or hasn't much memory. Yet I admit that it may be that life continues . . . though it sometimes seems plain it does not."
  • 8 August--"Yesterday we had a dinner from our own garden and it was fine, summersquash, mashed potatoes, string beans, green corn, cucumbers, beets. Today we had cabbage, Okra, onions in soup, turnips, potatoes and radishes."
  • 17 August--"This is the first anniversary of the discovery of the fossil quarry which is undoubtedly destined to be famous. . . .
  • "There has been a big change since a year ago. We have had a big task and it is not, by any means accomplished. We have out the larger part of No. 1 if the neck 257 belongs with it, but we have not yet found the skull and fore limbs and feet."
  • 2 September--"It was one year ago today that we began work with force .... We have done a lot of work. Our expenses have been between $5000 and $6000. When I began I estimated the cost of getting out the one Dinosaur No. I at $2000 to $5000. We have gotten out the greater part of No. 1 but not all by any means. . . . We also have the greater part of the tail of No. 40 besides several specimens smaller which would be called skeletons and dozens of other individuals represented by parts. We have run a cut over 100 ft. long in hard rock. In some places it is 35 or 40 ft. high on one side. We have established our camp...
  • "Unfortunately we have not yet found a skull. I hoped to do so before this and have had many visions of it."
  • 20 October--"This was our wedding anniversary. Have been married 5 years. Have never had a quarrel and are as much or more to each other than ever."
  • 31 October--"The teams came pretty early .... Had an awful time getting the heavy specimen of Carniverous Dinosaur into wagon box. The bottom broke out and the boys wired it. ... The large specimen of cervicals did not bother much until it was in the wagon then it nearly tipped over. . . . Nearly all the horses balked and result was the follows did not get loaded."
  • 15 November--"Skulls Dreamed the greater part of the night of working on Diplodocus skull. Uncovering the bones of the back portion time after time until morning. I would awake and get up then go to bed and dream it over and over. . . . found occipital condyle so before noon was sure of a skull at least lower portion. Was very jubilant.
  • "I went down in morning and looked it over--no bones appeared. ... I went down later raised the plaster up we had put on, took out a piece of broken rock, and behold a "
  • 16 November--"I wrote to Dr. Holland about the skulls. I am so glad to get these as this 'Caps the climax' even if I did not find them until the 11th hour. This leaves little to be desired. Of course not all the good things are out but many are in sight."
  • 9 December--"Father had a message from Dr. Holland, an insulting thing wanting me to come as soon as possible and help straighten up matters. He said there were not as many boxes as I had on my list and I had greatly overdrawn my acct."
1910
6 28
Pennsylvania, Utah
Douglass worked at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh and then returned to Jensen, Utah.
  • 4 February--"At work at the museum getting records of the quarry in shape."
  • 23 February--"Recd a letter from Mr. Carnegie of which I am proud. . . .
  • "Dear Mr. Douglass: Many thanks for your valued letter. Glad one more Scotsman has 'made good.'
  • "What a wonder that monster is to be. Mrs. Carnegie and I expect to visit Pittsburg in April or May & hope to meet you & your wife and boy, . . . . Andrew Carnegie"
  • 20 April--"We are uncovering new bones all the time."
1911
6 29
Utah, Pennsylvania (Uinta Geology)
Douglass worked at the dinosaur quarry in Utah and in 1913 returned to Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.
  • [1912]--"The large tract of country south of the Uinta Mountains and north of the Book Cliffs is of much interest, from many points of view. It is from the standpoint of a geologist however that I wish to write a general sketch of the territory, and this ought to be of service in all policies of the development of the country as its future will depend on its geological conditions." (page 7)
  • [1912]--"This great area is bounded on the north by the Uinta Mts a broad anticlinal uplift; on the east by the border line of the district with which we are dealing is nearly the eastern line of Utah--the Utah-Colorado state line, the southern and southwestern boundaries the Roan or Book Cliffs and the western portion a north and south line extending southward from over the western portion of the Uinta Range. It includes principally Uinta and Wasatch counties. This probably includes nearly all of the Uinta outcrops and much of the Wasatch, Green River, Morrison and other exposures of interest. It is thought that to a great extent the formations in this area are similar to those which extend into surrounding areas." (page 11)
  • [1912]--"The main stream which drains this region is Green River." (page 13)
  • 14 August 1912--"With trained men and money we might make one of the great exhibits of the world and perhaps we will be permitted to do it. We may be dreaming and that is all right. Dreams come before reality if our dreams are not all realized.
  • "But wouldn't it be great to have a new museum built on museum principles and have one great hall for Dinosaurs! Mounted skeletons, in position of life, skeletons mounted on tables for scientific demonstration and study, restorations of the beasts life size, restorations in native haunts, restorations showing the circumstances and tragedies of their deaths and burials, restorations or pictures showing their resurrection--"How are the dead raised up."
  • 15 August 1912--"The now famous dinosaur quarry like many other such finds of the kind might long have remained undiscovered had not a few bones of the tail of one dinosaur been partly exposed on the face of a ledge of sandstone."
  • 23 August 1912--"We have just got now where the quarry is yielding returns, the great portion of our work until now has been preliminary."
  • 21 January 1913--"We have our shipping done at last. I got a telegram from Mr. Stewart Dec 27th, with definite and final orders to ship our fossils. The 31st we started."
  • 25 March 1913--"One thing I have learned that is of personal interest to me. Unless I see a better place I intend to make this country my home. I can fix up my ranch I hope and make it my home at least in the summer. . . .
  • "As I have often said I wish to arrange to be in the Museum and the University say half of the year and be more or less free the other half."
  • 2 April 1913--"Delivered to J. A. Kay 44 hens and one rooster the same number to be returned when operations begin at the quarry again or on demand. These are property of the museum." (p. 292)
1912-1913
6 30
Pennsylvania, Utah
Douglass worked at the dinosaur quarry and at Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. Entries in this diary are concerned with the Douglass farm or ranch in Jensen, Utah.
  • 8 April 1912--"This book is for farm, garden surroundings etc. to keep a record of work done at home on the ranch, thoughts about home and ranch life aspirations, plans etc. and is to replace the unhandy and cumbersome book which I have been using, which I had had made of printers paper. . . .
  • "The whole thing [farm in Jensen] is of course something of an experiment but I have a good deal of confidence."
  • 31 May 1912--"We thought that this shower would put water into our upper reservoirs but there was no hard shower there. ... we had a slow steady shower for some time .... I went up to the desert claim. Found that the water had come down and washed the onion bed quite badly in places. Mr. Neilson had been irrigating part of [the] bed. It was the first day we had had water down to there. The night before he got it down to upper end of lower flat. The water that did the damage came down rocks . . . and followed the furrows he had made for irrigating."
  • 9 September 1913--"Was thinking this morning that I wish before we settle down in our house in Utah and make our final plans we could make a long trip to the various parts of the United States and portions of Canada to learn all we can about the various modes of culture of all the things raised for pleasure, beauty and profit."
  • 2 May 1914--"We found several months ago that we could not commute on my homestead in Utah. This was an oversight of the registrar of the land office and several others. This was a disappointment. Something had to be done. Pearl at once wished to go out there. She was tired of city life as we have to live it anyway. In fact it became almost intolerable. There are too many of us in the house, too many children, and too much bad influence in the streets.
  • "Well at last it was decided that she should go and attend to the business there, hold down the homestead etc. The only drawback was our separation. I knew a man could stand that better than a woman, and I knew how much I had to keep my mind busy."
  • 7 July 1914--"I think a good deal about our farm lately and plan and scheme to get it where it will support us. The only way I see now is to sell some of our property here [Pittsburgh]. But one must sacrifice now if he can sell at all. I might borrow some money on home but don't like to do it. Yet it would undoubtedly pay in the end.
  • "If I could get $1000 it seems that we could get where the farm would pretty nearly support us."
  • 2 September 1914--"On ranch in Utah again. At last I am where I have longed to be, and where I intend to spend the greater part of the rest of my life. I am far away from the degeneracy of a great city. I am out where the air is pure and sweet, where we have pure fresh food and where there is something of freedom and independence."
  • 24 September 1914--"Mr. Olsen is now laying the foundation of our new house."
  • 4 October 1914--"There are troubles and struggles and difficulties on a farm but, there are many advantages and of the kind which I prefer."
  • 18 October 1914--"It seems that at last I am right on the verge of what I want to do--what I want to be but cannot quite reach it on account of lack of funds."
  • 8 November 1914--"If we keep on finding such good things at the quarry we may work it nearly all winter. Then we are supposed to open up the mammal quarry and . . . hope [to] do some more searching in the Uinta. It may be we will get a part of summer in the Wasatch.
  • "If I could work for the museum until August I probably could get something to do here if I needed to.
  • "If I could sell my property in Pittsburgh, I would try to get the ranch so it would keep us and be getting better each year.
  • "I long for independence yet these are golden days and full of interest."
1912-1914
6 31
Utah
Douglass worked the entire time at the dinosaur quarry in Jensen, Utah. The diary entries, concerned primarily with the Dinosaur Ranch (so named in 1914), are by both Earl and Pearl Douglass.
  • 25 January 1915--"I have printed on the back of this book FARM. Perhaps the best title would be Farm Life. It is for the record of farm life in its hardest sense, not only what is done and to be done but its brightest dreams. Whatever would go more fittingly here than anywhere else we intend to write here.
  • "Our object is not at all to raise grain, vegetables, fruits, stock etc to see and get money to put in the bank to rest! We want money. We need a good deal but if we had it we would want to make it keep busy accomplishing something good all the time. But the main object of all is to live better and more truly."
  • 1 February 1915--"I have a new scheme now. We want to catch the water or what we can of it from Camp Gulch to water some corn and other things on the east field of the 27-acre lot."
  • 18 February 1915--"Have recently been trying to get information about plants for food forage etc for dry land or limited irrigation."
  • 25 February 1915--"Making Reservoir above road to water part of 27 acre lot. . . . Get as high as 24 eggs per day."
  • 25 February 1915--(Pearl Douglass) "Am planning and developing plans for the new house. ... It will be a happy day when we can say we do not have to depend upon a salary for a living."
  • 28 February 1915--"Have turned water from Reser. 1 to land where orchard is to be. Water flowing out all the time but water slowly creeping up banks of reservoir. It certainly looks good."
  • 19 March 1915--"If I am not paid [by Carnegie Museum] in proportion to the skill and judgment required, the preparation and experience demanded or my earning ability I must do the work just as well carefully thoroughly and expeditiously as if I were amply paid, for by accepting the position I morally agree to do the work to the best of my ability."
  • 2 June 1915--"Crops still doing well. . . . Little if anything shows signs of lack of moisture."
  • 22 June 1915--"Nearly everything we planted is doing well and growing nicely except in spots where [the] ground baked on top. Here the seeds are often prevented from germinating properly. they do not grow thickly[?] after germination, and soon the moisture evaporates and leaves the ground dry to a considerable depth. One by experience can almost tell [the] condition of [the] soil beneath as to moisture by walking over it. ...
  • "The corn, squashes, potatoes and as I said nearly everything is doing well now, but of course there is not water enough in the ground to carry them through. From my past experience here I expect rain inside of ten days. In spite of what people think, I do not believe that we have had our usual amount of moisture up to the present time."
  • 10 July 1915--"This has been a period to test our experiments in dry farming and in watering before sowing and etc.
  • "There is no water in either reservoir now. Drained No. 1 about 2 inches off I judge and No 2 a few days later. There was only enough in the latter to water part of the pumpkins and potatoes."
  • 18 July 1915--"Still hot dry and no rain or any good signs of any that I can see. We have no water but need it much for crops though the time is rich in lessons which the long early dry hot spell will teach us. We need the crops but we may need them more at some other time and the lesson too. If we had a good soaking rain now and had our reservoirs full we would have lots of good fresh things to eat and a good deal to feed. But we can not make it rain, what we can do is to learn to use the resources which nature gives. . . .
  • "I hated to go down to the field to see things dying."
  • 28 July 1915--"We are surely having a test of dry weather conditions. This has been an unusual spring and summer so far. We have had no rain to amount to anything since May 19. just 10 weeks. . . . We certainly would like to see a good soaking rain. It would mean a good deal to us this year but if we do not we will learn a lot anyway and put it down to the credit of experience."
  • 12 August 1915--"Still hot and dry.
  • "Have had only one rain to wet the ground since May 19 or 20. That is 12 weeks. We had a quite a smart shower last Saturday the 7th and in some places it wet down an inch and a half or 2 inches. Some of it probably went a little deeper below, but it is doubtful if it had much effect on vegetation, the ground was dried out so deeply on top."
  • 4 September 1915--"At last the rain has come."
  • 14 September 1915--(Pearl Douglass) "We had our first frost this morning. Have not been out to see what damage was done yet."
  • 20 October 1915--(Pearl Douglass) "This was our 10th wedding anniversery. It finds us living in Utah, and at this time separated for 4 or 6 weeks. We are progressing but it seems it takes a long time to get a start. The first year it seemed that ten years was a long way off. Now its here and we are still in the beginning. But the secret of the shortness of time was our happiness. We have been contented in each others care. Only one little boy has come to bless. As time goes by we miss the others more."
  • 2 January 1916--"There is big talk now about placermining activities here next spring. If there should be we could undoubtedly dispose of the surplus [crops] If now we could have a store of stuff for our own use."
  • 14 March 1916--"Yesterday there was no work done at the quarry as the boys could not get over [the river] at least with safety. We're looking for ice to go out all day as well as the day before."
  • 3 April 1916--"Our reservoir broke and we lost all the water but if I can get it repaired so as to get it full again and get it cleaned out it will be an advantage. We did not get it in very good shape last fall. It is not dry enough to work at now."
1914-1916
7 32
Utah (Quarry)
Douglass worked at the dinosaur quarry in Jensen, Utah. The entries in this diary are concerned primarily with the work at the quarry.
  • 2 October 1914--"Where the bones begin they are piled up almost like a dam. In some places they must be 5 or 6 ft. thick."
  • 7 October 1914--"It would be a great triumph if we could get a skeleton of Allosaurus."
  • 14 October 1914--"Things opening up in good shape and a quite a number of separate bones out. No large blocks yet."
  • 19 October 1914--"As one great object is to find a skull articulated we do not wish to miss any chance of getting one."
  • 26 October 1914--"This [journal] is intended as a record of work at the quarry and in connection with fossil-hunting. It may be very useful as a record at some future times yet I had intended it to be mostly for my own reference. . . .
  • "Though he, the director [of Carnegie Museum] sometimes seems only partly appreciative of the work done and the difficulties which have to be overcome, yet it is his interest and enthusiasm, first, and that of one or two others secondarily, which furnish the worker force for this undertaking.
  • "The management of the work here is left pretty much in my hands. I want to do the best it is possible to do. It is to my interest to do so at present.
  • "The work is interesting. Few have had the privilege of turning out so many big treasures as we are getting out and we should appreciate this fact.....
  • "I have good men under me. I think they all have an interest in the work outside of the money they get. . . .
  • "I cannot put in a full day at manual labor at the quarry and do all the planning, writing ordering and /or/ other things. That is out of the question, and if I am expected to be a mule and a manager at the same time I'd better get out, for I cant stand it and will not try. . . .
  • "I have served the museum a good many years with the hope of rising in the work--getting a share of honor due, and a living salary. Though I think I have done as much as any outside the director and Mr. Hatcher to increase the growth and fame of the museum, I have not gotten the things I hoped nor is there any prospect near that I will get them. I see very well that the policy which governs does not include independence honor or comfort for me, and I would be less a man than I should be if when I see a chance for me and mine if I do not improve it. I have interests of my own. If I had naught, I could gloriously look forward to dependence, not independence.
  • "It is true that Mr. Carnegie was pleased with my fortunate discovery and out of his uncounted millions gave me a few thousand, and I feel I owe him an undying debt of gratitude for as I do not get a living salary I needed it. . . .
  • "But if I can for some time yet serve the museum in the field, in natures fascinating realm away from human parasites and blood suckers who draw their life from others I shall be glad to do so. But no more of the degenerating blight of cities for me.
  • "I have got to look out for myself and mine, and though the salary comes [in] handy, and I want to earn it, I probably could manage to live without the help of the museum."
  • 9 November 1914--"We first found jaws of Allosaurus or some other carnivorous Dinosaur and hope yet to find the skull."
  • 18 November 1914--"The space which contains the bones is not so great but they are so piled on one another and interlocked that it is mostly a matter of continual pecking away with small tools.
  • "It will be slow work in a way yet we probably will get as many bones for the amount of labor as we ever did, and bones with less matrix. . . .
  • "We have forward limbs and lower jaws of a carnivorous dinosaur, the lower jaw of Brontosaurus (Marsh), a skull associated with the neck, of Diplodocus (the first time such a thing has been known), a neck one Centrum and cervical rib of which are almost 8 ft long. A huge cervical which probably belongs to Brontosaurus or something larger, a series of dorsals with the ribs attached etc. And almost every day there are surprises or something new or unknown coming to light.
  • "As long as we are getting such wonderfully interesting things it would be almost a crime to have to suspend work when we are at the climax of successful discovery, and I think it will not be suspended when we are making history so rapidly and we are at the harvest of our success. When the harvest is growing richer and more golden stores just ahead it would not be wise to suspend operations, especially when he have the expenses reduced to a minimum."
  • 25 November 1914--"Thus far if there is no mistake we have found two skulls with mandibles and the mandible of Brontosaurus and with lots of hope for the future."
  • 30 November 1914--"I have found part of the spinal column of the carnivorous dinosaur--something we have been looking for a long time. I believe as I have hoped for a long time, that we will get a mountable skeleton. This is a triumph."
  • 9 December 1914--"After I saw how things were coming--how bones were built up in the quarry etc., I saw that it would take until February, then March, then April, then May, etc.
  • "But this is not all. It seems almost certain that some of the best skeletons will go below the track. In fact it looks now as if the line of the bottom of the cut--the track--would go through the best of the quarry."
  • 29 December 1914--"The work of getting out bones is slow--a good deal of it on account of the hardness of the rock and their being piled up so thickly at the main focus of our work. But the way we are getting them out will shorten work in [the] laboratory and save freight."
  • 12 January 1915--"We are still busily pecking away at the quarry. . .
  • "It seems that the bones are in some way the cause of the hardening of the rock. There is a good chemical study here. I must look it up but I think some of the mineral matter of the bone enters into some kind of a combination with the mineral matter in the percolating waters."
  • 22 March 1915--"There were two things which we especially desired to get [from the quarry] which we have not gotten. We have no skull of Brontosaurus (Marsh) although we have mandulla of what Marsh referred to Brontosaurus.
  • "I have again been trying to estimate the length of skeleton .... the new data I have .... would make our animal about 140 ft long. I wonder if he was!!"
  • 3 April 1915--"It seems that where the bones are the thickest and piled up most is in a rather narrow channel which we can now trace in the rock when the bone has been removed. . . .
  • "It seems that there is every reason (unless there be one--lack of funds) for pushing on the work here now if more work is going to be done here. . . .
  • "Everything is moving along smoothly and at minimum expense."
  • 28 August 1915--"I have received the confirmed decision of the--well the office of the secretary of the Interior has turned down our mining claim so we [Carnegie], after expending thousands of dollars here have no more legal right to it than anyone else."
  • 20 March 1916--"About Oct. 6 the eighty acres on which the quarry is located had been made into a National Monument. I did not understand the matter but thought Dr. Holland did and thought that he would be able to make arrangements so we could work it. As nothing was written to me concerning the matter from the office I at last telegraphed to Dr. Holland and wrote him a letter. He then made application to the Secretary of the interior for [a] permit to excavate and to remove specimens. This was granted after a time."
  • 19 May 1916--"There is a growing sentiment in favor of providing a skeleton for Utah."
  • 18 July 1916--"I am working with pick and shovel when I can do so to advantage. Then I have business, visitors, planning, etc to do and look after odds and ends to keep things running.
  • "During my spare time I wish to prepare a few charts explanations etc. explaining things I have to say over and over every time anyone comes."
  • 29 July 1916--"Found tooth of 'Brontosaurus' yesterday. Good indication of what we want most--a skull. It strengthens hope that we will find it."
  • 9 August 1916--"Yesterday . . . was a day which we hope will be worthy to be remembered. It was the day in which we discovered one of the two great things for which we are searching. . . . a skull!"
  • 17 August 1916--"We started the practice too of having a turkey and a skull feast whenever we found a skull. . . .
  • "The quarry has never seriously disappointed us in but one thing [finding a skull] and now it seems it is in the long run, not disappointing us in that."
  • 9 October 1916--"I think we ought to make application for permit to work quarry at least another year. . . .
  • "If we do not make application others undoubtedly will. There seems to be a release on the way now to get some specimens for the state museums of this state--the Deseret Museum and the Museum of the state university."
  • 26 October 1916--"Others are wishing to get into the quarry and efforts are being made to secure one or more skeletons for the state of Utah, and I think they are awaiting the time when we get thru[?]."
  • 7 February 1917--"I have long wished to find the preserved remains of the vegetation which flourished at the time the Dinosaurs lived. Have believed that some time we might find a place where the plants, especially the delicate ones are preserved."
1914-1918
7 33
Utah
Douglass worked at the dinosaur quarry in Jensen, Utah.
  • 25 October 1915--"I had surmised that we might find 'a nest' of skeletons here and it still looks favorable.
  • "I am agreeably surprised to find the bones in such good shape. They are better than I had thought that they were--in fact it looks as if they would leave little to be wished. And when we realize how rare they are! So rare that if we get a complete skeleton it will be the only one in ex-instance, though the Field Museum has the greater part of a skeleton except the limbs. After finding so many skulls and so little skeletal material it is refreshing and exhilarating to find such things."
  • 28 October 1915--"It is reported in the papers that our Dinosaur Quarry has been proclaimed a National Monument. I do not know what the outcome will be but it will effect the Museum and us personally. . . . Here is one of the greatest curiosities in the world--a burying ground of the huge prehistoric beasts of a long distant age. It is a combination of fortunate circumstances that they have been buried, preserved and again unveiled to us.
  • "How appropriate that they or part of them be exposed in relief as they were buried, to show the tragedy of their death and to reveal something of their lives and surroundings.
  • "How appropriate to build a fair sized building over them to protect them, to have this a thing of substantial beauty modeled after nature, to have this large enough to contain related fossils and other curiosities, geological sections, explanatory descriptions, pictures, paintings to represent scenes in the age in which they lived, a library with books throwing light on the geology of the region etc. etc. Anything to attract in the right direction, to interest, to help to appreciate nature and her wonderful ways!
  • "I cannot think that this means any ill to us though there may be a limit to taking out bones. It may be just what we long have wished."
  • 10 November 1915--"It seems that the sandstone [at dinosaur quarry] in which we find the bones rests in an old river channel worn in the lighter colored bedded[?] deposits underneath. The latter must be lake or swamp deposits. Part of them seem to be pretty evenly stratified--harder thicker compact layers with softer thinner layers between.
  • "The river deposits are thicker bedded[?] below. The rock cleans away easily above and below the bone layer. The first skeleton was in one thickened layer. The second is somewhat different--a thinner layer on top breaking into some of the bone. There are apparently more dark noduler substances around the latter. The latter seems more disturbed also. The layer or layers above the bones swell--thickening upward in places."
  • 17 November 1915--"I think it is the best find [dinosaur skeleton] of the kind ever found in the Uinta. I am certainly glad to get these specimens and Carnegie Museum is fortunate."
  • 21 November 1915--"I do not 'stick to' things until I complete them. I am great at beginning, to be as great at completing!"
  • 27 July 1917--"Went by where Si Perkins lives. Ragged unloved, degraded in a way. Yet in some things half envy him, living alone and all time to himself. But I would not leave loved ones long. Wish we all could have a rest, and not have to struggle and worry all the time."
  • 30 July 1917--"Stopped to see wonderful view of Uinta Bad Land.
  • "A wilderness of bold cyclopean forms. High square faced mesas, perhaps sloped on one side.
  • Huge uneven walls as of Vast city in ruins. Seems no life now.
  • "Innumerable buttresses, square towers, dizzy shadowed lights."
1915-1917
7 34
Utah
Douglass worked at dinosaur quarry in Jensen, Utah. Diary entries are scattered and terse.
  • 6 June 1916--"Hot yet cool breeze part of time. Have got door to cabin at quarry hung and moved telephone into it."
  • 13 June 1916--"Hot and dry. Tired out and trying to rest a little. . . . Began Register at quarry. Had 8 visitors or more for a starter."
1916-1917
7 35
Utah
Douglass worked at dinosaur quarry in Jensen, Utah. Diary entries are concerned primarily with Douglass's Dinosaur Ranch.
  • 6 June 1916--"This is the third book of this series each successor larger than the preceding. I wish to make each better than the last ....
  • "It has been a peculiar spring. We have not experienced anything like it here before and I do not remember such a spring anywhere else.
  • "We should be feasting out of the garden. We sowed our small stuff long ago so long it seems dim in memory but there has been no rain the wind has raved a good deal of the time--I think I never knew such a windy spring and there was frost a large proportion of the nights in May. . . .
  • "Then too we lost the water from this Reservoir (No 1) early in the spring and have had no water here except what we hauled in a tank. . . .
  • "We have almost nothing promising to show now yet we have not given up. I believe we will yet have some good things."
  • 15 June 1916--"Am not discouraged about farming if it has been an off year and if we haven't had any rain for over three months. It is well to experience these things on the start and while we have an income."
  • 18 June 1916--"Weather still hot and getting dryer. No rain or any sign of rain or indications of rain getting less and less."
  • 18 July 1916--"We are still living on the same kind of food as in the winter only do not have meat on hand and potatoes about gone. . . . "... our attempts at gardening have failed . . . .
  • "We wish that we could finish our stone bungalow, could have water piped to it, . . . but we will have to wait for them and have something a-head to look forward to."
  • 22 September 1916--"The ground is still dry. No rain lately. Only about 1.6 inches since March . . . .
  • "A short time ago my Equitable [life insurance] policies were taken by the company. It amounted to selling them to the company. I have borrowed on them and am not in a position to pay the large premiums to say nothing of the loan. . . . they are gone and their burden of worry, but there has been another source of worry. If I should die uninsured I would leave Pearl and Nettie almost helpless and without money. There is property but they might not be able to realize any money on it, and when the man is gone human vampires are ready to despoil+ the widows and fatherless.
  • "I have another financial trouble. I owe about $300 . . . and don't know how I am going to meet it but intend to do the best I can."
  • 2 October 1916--"Day before yesterday--the 30th of Sept.--I made the final proof on my homestead. I understood the Register to say it was all right. Certainly we have shown good faith if anyone ever did and we have taken it up as a permanent home."
  • 22 October 1916--"Our harvest is very small but it helps a little. We are planning to do better next year."
  • 18 February 1917--"Water will not run in either reservoir until we do some reservoir and ditch work.
  • "I have been thinking of trying to get out water here but we have other things to do so I fear we will not get in a pump this year."
  • 21 March 1917--"I want more water and am thinking quite seriously of putting in a pumping plant! this year."
  • 16 May 1917--"The spring is different from that of last year yet it has been cold until lately. We have had abundant showers, though no heavy rain so I have put the seed in as soon as I could."
  • 26 May 1917--"I have wished lately that I might be free to spend the greater part of my time developing the ranch and our home. But am engaged in a great scientific work and need my salary. . . .
  • "I think the time is not far away when I shall devote most of my own time to the farm and to the work which I wish to do. I think the museum will continue work here the remainder of this year and if results are excellent they may work the quarry a year or part of a year more.
  • "Financial matters are still something of a worry yet I am getting most of my older bills paid."
  • 3 July 1917--"We are having blazing hot weather now. Have had for several weeks. Some days not a cloud in the sky. Quite a change from conditions in the spring. Though we had many light rains we did not have enough snow or rain to get the ground thoroughly soaked. As a consequence the ground is drying out quickly and nothing here that has not water is doing anything or doing well.
  • "We can plainly see it does not pay to put in much seed unless it has water." 16 September 1917--"The dry weather has somewhat dampened or dried up our enthusiasm in farming. . . .
  • "This summer has been even dryer than last. That is there was probably not as much moisture in the ground as year before last. We had little rain last winter and though it was cloudy and raining a good deal in the spring there was no heavy rain so the ground was not thoroughly soaked.
  • "We put in a good deal of stuff but had not time to water that up at the spring so we have no crops."
  • 17 February 1918--"Weather continues spring like. Zero the coldest here and no snow to amount to anything. It certainly is a remarkable winter. . . . No general storm here since last May. Precipitation not up to the average last year. I think not more than 4 inches."
  • 10 April 1918--"Our calves are looking well and growing. Haven't been near horses and young stock for some time. Horses were poor.
  • "Pumping plant not come but ordered."
  • 17 June 1918--"Weather extremely hot for the last six or seven days. Was up to 108° in shade two days at least. No rain. Only two rains this spring a total of about 1.4 inches. Not much over two inches since the 23rd of May last year. Never saw such a dry spring before. The grain we sowed is drying up and dying. . . .
  • "Things in some ways are disheartening. Cows drying up. Mrs. Douglass has had little luck with chickens as hens wouldn't sit. Had hatched quite a good many turkeys but lots of them have died. Lately haven't hatched good. Probably eggs kept to long waiting for sitters. Did not get half as many lambs as expected and they appear to be no more than half alive. Only 10 or 11 alive now I believe.
  • "We are not ready to give up however."
  • 1 July 1918--"As usual we have no crops. Mrs. D. has only a few chickens and something like 40 turkeys. The bum lamb crop was lots of hard work and pretty near a failure. I think there are only 9 left. Have lost several of the last years lambs."
  • 19 October 1918--"We have had unusual weather the last three years. It is an unusual fall so far. No frost here yet. . . . Thunder showers were like Aug. [rather] than Oct. It has been remarkably warm for this time of the year. Flies very bad indoors and out."
  • 30 October 1918--"We, like the rest of the world find ourselves in an unpleasant condition. We have debts which should be paid now and we cant pay them at present. The companies need the money. We have got to work the thing out some way. I don't know how just yet. Hope to be able to figure it out before long as it is a source of worry and perplexity."
  • 7 February 1919--"My plan is the same as last year. Have good garden for ourselves and raise food for stock."
  • 15 March 1919--(Pearl Douglass) "If we could only begin to have something come, how encouraging it would be."
  • 27 March 1919--"We do not want a great amount. We want our farm worked with good cattle, machinery to run it and to be out of debt with a little ahead for an emergency. I long for a few years of independence before I die."
  • 18 May 1919--"Have had a small force busily at work installing pumping plant, making and cleaning ditch cleaning out reservoir, diking etc. Have the plant so I think we can try it tomorrow. . . . We have quite a little money invested but if we get successful irrigation the land will more than pay for it. The pumping plant will cost something like $3000."
  • 30 August 1919--"So far as crops are conserned we are about where we have been ever since we came here. We have no crops matured. Have about 20 acres of stuff which we have watered and it is up in spots but just now water is down so we cannot pump.
  • "We have had a strenuous time since the first of May installing pumping plant; and getting everything working. Have succeeded in demonstrating the thing and getting it where if the water were high enough we could get plenty of water. But there have been many disheartening things to contend against. We have had to fight every inch of the way and we have no more than conquered one trouble or difficulty until another would arise."
  • 11 January 1920--"We still have some spring and summer in our hearts. We are always dreaming of raising good things to eat for man and beast but hope deferred makes the heart sick. We still have hopes tho. How hard we tried last summer to avoid what we are going thru now what a lot of money we spent and raised nothing to speak of and have to buy nearly all we eat except beef and milk and eggs tho we are getting no eggs now. . . .
  • "The farm is the place anyway and I am going to enjoy it if it is only in imagination.
  • "I am still contemplating writing a story giving my ideal of a farm if only for my own amusement."
1916-1920
8 36
Utah
Douglass worked at dinosaur quarry in Jensen, Utah.
  • 19 August 1917--"At home. Came up to quarry to show some visitors around. Read and wrote a little in afternoon. Expected to have a whole day for writing. I think it was anniversary of discovery of quarry toward 8 years ago."
  • 14 December 1917--"For several days I had pains in stomach and had to quit work for part of day. Phoned to Dr. Green and he told me not to take any solid food for several days."
  • 19 July 1918--"I am working around big skull and apparently smaller skeleton. Can't tell what skeleton is yet."
  • 11 November 1918--"Got the news of cessation of fighting in Europe. I let boys do as they wanted to do. Probably the first or beginning of a rowdy holiday."
1917-1919
8 37
Utah
Douglass worked at dinosaur quarry in Jensen, Utah.
  • 2 November 1920--"Legal Holiday. General Election. Roy, York, Golden and I drove down to Jensen and voted, then they took the stage for Vernal. I waited for Mrs. Douglass to come from Vernal where she has been attending Chautaugua meetings. I went across the river and searched among the hills for a time and enjoyed it."
  • 30 November 1920--"A red letter day. We saw what we have looked for for years. In the morning an air ship went over .... It was sailing high and going northeast. It was a thrilling sight and we were considerably excited over it."
  • 21 January 1921--"I returned [from a trip in Uinta Basin] more convinced than ever that there is oil in the basin and where I supposed and that it will be found when one goes at it right."
  • 24 July 1921--"Holiday celebrated Pioneer Day. No one working but me. I was at quarry making signs and showing visitors around. The best display at the quarry for years."
1919-1921
8 38
Utah
Douglass's employment by Carnegie Museum ended in 1924. By 1928 he was living in Salt Lake City and working as a consulting geologist in private business.
  • 6 July--"Worked for G.A. [Gilson Asphaltum] Co."
  • 17 July--"Got Telephone [call] from Mr. Hughel asking me to go to Vernal to meet men who want to look over Dinosaur National Monument."
  • 19 July--"Dr. David White and a Russian lady who is his assistant came to Rainbow and I had an opportunity of a life time. They confirm my contentions as to nature of oil shale etc. He says [he] thinks there is oil in Uinta Basin. Told me where to try to sell [flower fossil] collection when [I] get ready. To Carnegie Institution."
  • 3 August--"Wrote on Gilsonite Report in forenoon. Got so tired I couldn't write intelligently so at 2 P.M. went down to shale beds. Worked on report after supper."
  • 1 September--"Pearl, Grover, and I signed drilling contracts on our permits and prospective permits with the National Oil Company."
  • 14 September--"Started work on Bonanza Vein. . . . Finding conditions at foot of vein. In Green River wind broken up and veins full of rocks, debris and gilsonite."
  • 21 October--"My collection is a valuable one. Most specimens unique. Probably mostly undescribed species. It has not cost me a lot of money. About 6 1/2 days work at 4.80 and cost[?] 5 1/2 days not settled yet. I think when I want to I can sell the collection for enough to pay expenses--money paid out and to cover wages I am getting now. Have not reckoned it up but think I have put in between 15 & 20 days. 20 days at $25 is $500. Add another $100 for expenses makes $600. I think the collection--all told--is worth $1000 or more. It is the cream of floral[?] binzeris[?]."
1928
Folder
8 1
Random Diary Entries
1902-1918
8 2-13
Manuscript
"From the Diaries of Earl Douglass," by his son G. E. Douglass. Included is a letter to possible publishers describing the manuscript.
  • "My father's historic discovery of the dinosaur deposits at Dinosaur National Monument, August 17, 1909 and the extraction of the skeletons was the culmination of a life-time of personal sacrifice and hardship, but it was not the end of his vision. His dream of a natural museum at the site of discovery, where all mankind could see the fossils as they were buried millions of years ago, was finally realized when Visitor's Center at Quarry Site was opened to the public June 1, 1958, twenty-seven years after his death. . . .
  • "For some fifty years my father's search for truth led him into both literary and scientific fields of investigation .... Poverty, poor health, and frustration cast long shadows over his efforts and his family, and death ended his hope of publishing his memoirs, poetry and scientific discoveries. Although he wrote continuously throughout most of his life, nothing has been published except for a few magazine and newspaper articles. . . .
  • "Rumors and half-truths have, at times partially buried my father's success. Much of the credit for his work has been taken by his contemporaries and assistants. His discovery of the famous fossil beds at Dinosaur National Monument was even attributed to ... a fine old man, who assisted him. . . . When I visited the Carnegie Museum during the summer of 1967 my father's name did not appear with his remarkable paleontological discoveries on exhibit there. . . .
  • "This book is in memory of my greatest teacher, a tribute to a dedicated scientist, .... It is the odyssey of one man's life as reflected in his diaries . . . continued for forty-seven years." (Preface)

III:  Earl Douglass Field Notes, 1884-1931Return to Top

The field notes were primarily written when Douglass was traveling, apparently when his diary was not available. Many of the notes are indistinguishable from his diary entries and some were copied into his diary. The majority of the notes, however, are scientific observations of the flora, fauna, geology, etc., of the area he was in. The notes are dated, the location indicated, and Douglass's activities noted.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
9 1 1884
9 2 1886
9 3 1887
9 4 1889
9 5
Montana
Honesbar Hills, Dry Creek, Madison Valley, Bridger Mountains, and Gallatin River.
1895
9 6
Montana, Wyoming
Red Rock Lake, Ruby Valley, Three Forks of the Ruby, Yellowstone Lake, Etc.
1897
9 7
Montana
Virginia City, Bozeman, Honesbar Hills, Deep Creek, Etc.
1898
9 8
Montana
Helena, Missoula, Cold Spring, New Chicago, Flint Creek Valley, Hell's Gate Valley, Deer Lodge Valley, Etc.
1899
9 9
Montana
Blackfoot, Nevada Creek, Melrose, Ruby Mountains, Tobacco Root Mountain, Etc.
1900
9 10
Montana
Dry Creek.
1901
9 11
Montana
Missouri Valley, Delta, Helena, Deep Creek, Whitehall, Pony, Madison Valley, Etc.
1902
9 12
Montana
Jefferson Valley, Bear Creek Canyon, McCarty's Mountain, Sixteen Mile Creek, Big Hole Canyon, Etc.
1903
9 13 1904
9 14 1904
9 15 1905
9 16 1905
9 17 1905
10 1 1906
10 2 1907
10 3
Utah
Contains photographs of area in notebook. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
1908
10 4
Utah
Jensen. Douglass titled the notebook "Notes and Thoughts Written Before Discovery of Dinosaurs 1909." Original and typescript. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
1909
10 5
Utah
Jensen. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
1911
10 6 1912
10 7
Pennsylvania
1913
10 8
Utah
Dinosaur quarry.
1914
10 9
Utah
Geology.
1916
10 10 1917
10 11 1921
10 12
Utah
Davis Oil Company camp near Green River, Utah; Etc. Notes 8 Loose leaf
1921-1922
11 1
Utah, Colorado
Price, Utah; Craig, Colorado; Davis Oil Company camp, Utah; Etc.
1923
11 2
Utah, California
Uinta Basin, Davis Oil Company camp, Utah; southern California.
1924-1925
11 3
Utah
Uinta Basin.
1925
11 4-5 1926
11 6-7 1927
11 8
Utah
Rainbow, Dragon.
1928
11 9
Utah. Rainbow, Dragon.
1929
11 10
Utah
Rainbow, Dragon.
1930
11 11
Utah
Last notes of Douglass written in January.
1931
11 12 1910

IV:  CorrespondenceReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Correspondence--Family
Box Folder
12 1
Nettie Douglass
Nettie, living in the family home in Medford, Minnesota, wrote Earl on a regular basis. She noted family and community events and reported on their parents and numerous friends. During the summer of 1886 Nettie was in St. Paul, Minnesota, attending Hamline College. It appears that in 1887 and 1888 she remained in Medford. Two postcards from Douglass to Nettie dated 19 May 1886 and 15 August 1886 are included.
1886-1888
12 2
Nettie Douglass
Letters from Nettie, living at home and helping her parents with the farm in Medford, related everyday events in some detail.
1889-1891
12 3
Nettie Douglass
Nettie wrote of a trip she took to the neighboring town of Owatonna, Minnesota, a major event for her.
1892-1893
12 4
Nettie Douglass
Nettie chided Earl for not writing and wrote she was sending him some books. His mother was ill in September of 1894 and Nettie traveled with her to Rochester, Minnesota, to the Mayo Clinic. Mrs. Douglass improved steadily through 1894-1895.
1894-1895
12 5
Nettie Douglass
Nettie remained in Medford. Her parents were in poor health by 1896, and Nettie was caring for them. Nettie wished Earl would write more often as she admitted her life was not very exciting.
1896-1898
12 6
Nettie Douglass
Letters from Nettie containing news of family and neighbors. In June 1899 Nettie traveled to Minneapolis for a "Camp meeting."
1899-1900
12 7
Nettie Douglass
There are fewer letters to Earl from Nettie during this period although her health seemed fine and she was happy in Medford.
1901-1903
12 8
Nettie Douglass
After October 1905, when Earl Douglass married Pearl Goetschius, Nettie addressed her letters to "Bro & Sister." She commented on 12 October 1904 from Medford that "yes, I think it is too bad that you and Pearl can't be together if you ever intended to, just think you will soon be 42. I hate to think that we are getting so old." The letters stopped in 1907 when Nettie moved to Vernal, Utah, to live with her brother and his family.
1904-1907
12 9
Fernando and Abigail Douglass (Earl's and Nettie's Parents)
These letters reflect the sentiments of parents toward their son. They reported much family news and events around their home in Medford, Minnesota. Abigail and Fernando were concerned about the weather and the change of seasons. They endured many health problems, but remained cheerful. The letters stopped in 1905.
1889-1905
12 10
Earl and Pearl Goetschius Douglass
A letter (10 April 1904) from Earl to Pearl's mother asking permission to marry Pearl is included with his letter to Pearl. The letters between Pearl and Earl in 1904 and 1905 are primarily love letters. They reflect sincere love and concern for one another. They were separated much of the time during these years--Pearl remained in her mother's home in Alder, Montana. The 1905 letters place Earl in Pittsburgh working at the Carnegie Museum, visiting his family, and on field trips throughout the West. This separation was difficult for them. The letters resumed in 1919 when Earl was in the field working in Utah as a professional geologist. The letters from 1919 to 1922 are primarily from Earl to Pearl and Gawin (his son) and relate what he was doing in the field. A letter related a conversation with Dr. George Thomas, of the University of Utah, regarding a position at that institution. 28 June 1921--"I saw Dr. Thomas today in his office. He had asked me to call when I returned. He asked me to go again Thursday and make an offer as to terms for working in the laboratory. I would rather, in a way, not go back, especially if I had a steady and sure job. . . . Yet on the other hand, if I were connected with the University, even nominally it would give me some prestige and undoubtedly help in getting other work. . . . I will make Dr. Thomas an offer with the provision that I can go at any time into the field and count time off."
1904-1922
12 11
Earl and Pearl Douglass
In 1924 Pearl and her son Gawin were in California for their health while Earl remained in Utah working at the dinosaur quarry and acting as geologist for oil and mineral companies. 10 April 1924--(Earl to Pearl) Douglass wrote that Dr. Frederick J. Pack, Department of Geology, University of Utah, informed him that they had raised the money and wished him to start work on the big Brontosaurus. Douglass mentioned oil company men, geologists, and others interested in the Uinta Basin and wrote "This country must develop, and I would like to have my share in it." 22 May 1924--(Earl to Pearl) "I have some unusual news to tell you. Mr. Kay found some bone which was partly rotten on the edges. He thought it was a couple of small ribs, perhaps of stegosaurus. We are about sick of this scattered trash. I went up to decide whether or not we would throw it over the dump. I thought it didn't look much like ribs. As I uncovered it, it looked less like ribs, until I was sure it wasn't. Followed the bones to one end and it began to look much like a jaw or part of the skull. I said that if I found a tooth I was sure that it was a jaw. I found the tooth. Then Mr. York uncovered the back--posterior portion and it looked as if the whole thing were there. It is not only a skull but it is a big one and one which has never been found before. It is doubtful if it is Brontosaurus. It may be something new throughout or skull and skeleton of something which is known from only a part of a skeleton. We cannot tell yet. Anyway it is a prize. So far as we have worked out the jaw, the teeth are in place. Apparently it will be a beauty. It is of so much interest that I have telegraphed Dr. Pack. I am going to write to him. . . "Oh, yes, we got the cabin up to the Desert Claim and we made the final proof the third of May. I have the certificate already. This is practically the same as a patent--to be held until the patent is issued. So, as I understand it the little piece of land we so long wanted is ours, and we have 243 acres of our own. Believe me there is a prospect that it will be worth something, too, in spite of the dreary croakers. Things at last seem to be coming our way, our ranch, the Dinosaur Monument, roads etc, etc." 4 June 1924--(Earl to Pearl) "I do not believe the big skeleton is Brontosaurus at all. The skull is dandy and probably twice as big as any other we have found in the quarry. Probably the whole thing is new. Of course it is possible that some of the bones have been named--described, I mean. . . . "We are now uncovering the posterior portion of a large carnivorous dinosaur, right up against the giant fellow. The hind limbs, feet and pelvis are partly in sight. Besides this the boys have uncovered the anterior part of a tail, to the hips of a medium-sized herbivorous dinosaur. I do not believe we will get this out. . . . "The University is certainly getting a choice collection, and I guess Doctor Pack is 'tickled to death' though he doesn't write much. We hear of it in the papers." 18 June 1924--(Earl to Pearl) "I think that there was no decision about the Dinosaur quarry and Congress has adjourned, but it may be for the best as it will give time to have the facts published and the conditions known. There has been an effort to have Mr. Mather, the Superintendent of Parks and Monuments--and an enthusiastic lover of nature--come and visit the Monument. He may come this summer." 28 June 1924--(Earl to Pearl) Douglass wrote concerning finances and his work at the quarry and for Mr. Humphreys mapping and making geological reports on oil property. He quoted Dr. George Thomas, of the University of Utah, as saying "We've got the biggest Dinosaur with a skull in the World." 19 July 1924--(Earl to Pearl) Douglass's letter is one of concern for Pearl's health and Gawin's education. He urged her to remain in California during the winter, making it a year since she left home. Finances continued to worry both of them. 6 August 1924--(Pearl to Earl) Pearl described the family in California. Gawin looked for work and Pearl's health improved slowly. 16 August 1924--(Earl to Pearl) Douglass wrote that "a great deal of drilling is going on in the Hamilton area but as yet only gas, a show of oil and water. They now have the oil from the discovery well at Hamilton piped to the railroad at Craig." He continued to write about drilling for oil and stated "If the petroleum business does not come my way before long I may be in Salt Lake City before so very long, but I do not wish to go so long as the geological work is good." In early 1926 Pearl, living in Montana, was caring for her mother who was ill. Earl wrote letters of despair, worrying about her health and his own and about their separation. Finances continued to plague them with his uncertain employment at the University of Utah and no progress in the oil drilling business. 13 January 1926--(Earl to Pearl) "This world is hell, and yet there are elements of heaven here. I do not at all like the way things go and the suffering we have to endure, yet when the success is won I can see that the tribulation has done me good. I have determined to do all I can myself and then when I can do no more I will have to leave it to the powers which are higher than I or the greater thing that is within me or works through me."
1924, 1926
12 12
Earl and Pearl Douglass
Forty-three letters between Pearl, still in Montana, and Earl and Gawin living in Salt Lake City with friends. Earl was writing poetry, articles, and stories for publication hoping to earn money from these. Gawin was in school. On 2 July Pearl wrote that it had been one year that day since she went to Montana. She returned to Salt Lake City in September to find Earl on a field expedition to Texas with a friend "scouting around to see what the conditions and prospects are," in the oil business.
1927
12 13
Earl and Pearl Douglass
On 25 June Pearl left Salt Lake City for Alder, Montana, where she spent the next six months with her brother Grover and her son Gawin who helped on the farm. Letters were exchanged frequently with Earl in the Uinta Basin working on a mineralogical report for the Gilsonite Asphaltum Company. Earl spent his spare time adding to his collection of flora fossils. He was sixty-six years of age at this time.
1928
12 14
Earl and Pearl Douglass
Correspondence between Pearl in Montana and Earl in Salt Lake City and the Uinta Basin where he continued his work for the Gilsonite Asphaltum Company. Letters from Earl to Gawin, also in Montana, concerned employment for Gawin in the Basin. Pearl wrote enthusiastically about their home in Salt Lake City which they would occupy as a family later in the year.
1929
13 1
Correspondence
Correspondence with family members including cousins, aunts, and uncles. There is also correspondence with Earl's sister Ida, but not on a regular basis. Ida Douglass Battin and her husband lived on a homestead in Iroquois, South Dakota. Earl visited Ida occasionally and boarded with them when he was a student at South Dakota Agricultural College and teaching school in the area.
1879-1888
13 2-3
Correspondence | Correspondence, 1889-1890 | Correspondence, 1891-1897
Correspondence to Earl from relatives including his sister Ida Battin, Ida's children, and her husband Alfred. There are also letters from cousins, nieces, and nephews.
1889-1897
13 4
Correspondence
Letters from relatives of Earl Douglass in South Dakota and Minnesota.
1900-1903
13 5
Correspondence
Letters to Earl Douglass from relatives in Minnesota expressing strong family ties and interests.
1904-1909
13 6
Correspondence
One letter from Pearl's mother, Charlotte Goetschius, relating family events in Alder, Montana, and letters from Pearl's brothers Grover and Frank Goetschius.
1906-1909
13 7
Correspondence
One letter from Pearl's mother (10 April 1914) and letters from other relatives.
1910-1921
13 8
Correspondence
Many of the letters in early 1923 comment on Nettie's stroke which left her helpless. Relatives on both sides seemed concerned. Several letters from Earl to relatives reported on Netter's condition. Nettie died 23 March 1923. Letters from Earl in 1924 tell of Pearl's poor health and her need to spend some time at a lower altitude. Pearl went to California in 1924.
1922-1924
13 9
Correspondence
Correspondence between Earl and Pearl Douglass and relatives (nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles).
1925-1930
13 10
Correspondence
Letters from Earl to his son Gawin and Grover Goetschius, a brother of Pearl Douglass, living on the family farm in Montana. Douglass wrote of the possibility of striking oil on some of their (Earl's, Pearl's, and Grover's) holdings in the Uinta Basin, "But don't get too hilarious for all things are uncertain and one of the most uncertain of them all is the oil game the way it is played."
1927-1928
13 11
Correspondence
A letter from Charlotte Goetschius to her daughter Pearl, 25 September.
1935
Correspondence--Business and Personal
Box Folder
14 1
Correspondence
Miscellaneous letters from friends, one letter of introduction, and an invitation to Douglass to attend the State Normal School in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
1879-1884
14 2
Correspondence
Receipt for tuition for Douglass's attendance at the Minnesota Academy, Owatanna, Spring Term, 1885, and correspondence from friends.
1885-1886
14 3
Correspondence
Letters of inquiry from Douglass about teaching positions, and correspondence from friends.
1887
14 4
Correspondence
Letters from Law, King and Law Publishing House for whom Douglass was a book salesman from 17 March to 3 November. Correspondence from friends.
1888
14 5
Correspondence
Letters concerning teaching positions from superintendents of schools in South Dakota, and correspondence from friends.
1889
14 6
Correspondence
Douglass accepted a teaching position in a public school in Cavour, South Dakota, beginning 11 November, 1889. Correspondence from acquaintances at South Dakota Agricultural College and Experiment Station expressing the hope Douglass will be able to continue his studies, and letters from school friends informing him of activities at South Dakota Agricultural College.
1890
14 7
Correspondence
Friendly letters from former classmates and acquaintances.
1891
14 8
Correspondence
Douglass was back in school at the South Dakota Agricultural College and Experiment Station. An inquiry about a job at the Missouri Botanical Garden yielded nothing. Douglass accepted a teaching position at Huron, South Dakota.
1892
14 9
Correspondence
Douglass served as a member of the Critical Committee on Book of College Verse of the South Dakota Agricultural College and Experiment Station. A tuition receipt for the college and correspondence from friends are included.
1893 January-June
14 10
Correspondence
Letters of recommendation to Boards of Education in Beadle County, South Dakota, and one from Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Ames, Iowa. Personal letters from friends and classmates.
1893 July-December
14 11-12
Correspondence Miscellaneous [01] | Miscellaneous [02]
A number of inquiries about teaching positions in various school districts. Douglass secured a teaching position in Logan, Montana, 1 May and later in Belgrade, Montana. Correspondence with "Lusk," a college friend of Douglass, and other friends.
1894
14 13-14
Correspondence Miscellaneous [01] | Miscellaneous [02]
On 16 April the United States Geological Survey, through Walter Harvey Weed, rejected Douglass's request to dig for fossils near Bozeman, Montana. Weed said that such work was out of the domain of the Survey. Douglass continued his contact with Weed regarding fossils he dug in the Gallatin Valley lake beds.
1895
15 1-2
Correspondence Business and personal [01] | Business and personal [02]
Douglass's correspondence took on a more professional tone as he began to have contact with paleontologist S. A. Miller, Cincinnati, Ohio, who wrote on 26 April "Three species of crinoids you sent me are new. The drawings are made and descriptions are written. Two species bear your name and they will appear in Bulletin No. 10 of the Illinois Survey . . . . printed in June or July." Other letters from Miller and geologists and botanists are included. Luther Foster, a friend from Montana who obtained a position at Utah State Agricultural Experiment Station, Logan, Utah, encouraged Douglass to look for a job there.
1896
15 3-4
Correspondence Business and personal [01] | Business and personal [02]
Douglass was paid $87.50 per month to teach in Virginia City, Montana, as reported in a letter of acceptance by the Board of Education to Douglass 21 June. Correspondence with the United States Geological Survey accepted Douglass's fossils from Yellowstone National Park and encouraged more contact with them.
1897
15 5-6
Correspondence Business and personal [01] | Business and personal [02]
Letters from September to December from M. J. Elrod, Department of Biology, University of Montana, Missoula, accepting specimens which Douglass collected. Elrod expressed gratitude for the fossils and assured Douglass of their interest in his work. 19 October--Fred D. Smith, Chemistry and Geology Department, University of Montana, wrote that the university would accept his offer to deposit the fossils he was collecting. In return the university would have the fossils packed and pay the freight on them. The university also hoped that collections he has and will have will be deposited there. These included collections stored at Bozeman, Belgrade, Logan, Laurin, and Victor, Montana. 14 December--M. J. Elrod wrote "I was going to ask you previously, but did not, if you would not like to turn your work on the fossils toward us as work for the Master's degree?"
1898
15 7-8
Correspondence Business and personal [01] | Business and personal [02]
13 February--Princeton University wrote Douglass offering him a scholarship of $100 on his tuition of $150. They could not promise him employment, though further aid might be available after he arrived. Douglass was in the field all summer. 6 July--Elrod proposed that Douglass work part time at the University of Montana on the collection, and part time to support himself. He thought the university might be able to find money for this arrangement. 31 August--Fred D. Smith wrote Douglass in the field that he was sure Douglass would be teaching at the University of Montana. Correspondence between Douglass and the Biology Department faculty at the University of Montana continued through the summer describing their field expeditions and fossil finds.
1899
15 9-10
Correspondence Business and personal [01] | Business and personal [02]
16 September--Douglass sent his letter of resignation to the University of Montana after he accepted a Fellowship at Princeton University. The position at the University of Montana ended under unhappy circumstances connected with money and the fossils collected in the summer of 1900.
1900
15 11-12
Correspondence Business and personal [01] | Business and personal [02]
Letters from Douglass's good friend M. J. Elrod and others from the University of Montana, from contacts in Montana in connection with his fossil hunting, and from friends. Much of the correspondence is from Oscar J. Craig, president of the University of Montana, relating to fossils Douglass collected in the summer of 1900 which caused considerable controversy. However, Craig expressed the hope Douglass would still be able to obtain a position at the University of Montana. Douglass went back to Montana to collect more fossils for the University of Montana and Princeton. He was granted another Fellowship at Princeton, but because of an important dig he was not able to leave for Princeton until November. 14 October--Marcus S. Farr, Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Princeton University, wrote "Am glad to know the Dinosaur is out and on the way - Some few days ago in an interview with Dr. Macleskie he told me that he had full confidence that you would do just the right thing; so you will see that he feels all right about your delayed return to resume your work." Douglass sent articles for publication to the , Helena, Montana.
1901
15 13-14
Correspondence Business and personal [01] | Business and personal [02]
8 February--Oscar J. Craig, president of the University of Montana, wrote of a planned expedition for June and asked Douglass, "What inducement will it be necessary to offer in order to secure your services for the expedition?" 18 February--The first correspondence with Carnegie Museum. J. B. Hatcher, curator, questioned one of Douglass's theories. 21 February--Craig wrote he had reconsidered and would be using university staff because of finances and would not employ Douglass. 12 March--Hatcher described his position with Carnegie Museum, the demands on him, and his hope that soon he would have an assistant curator to relieve him of some of his responsibilities so he could devote more time to other work, especially the dinosaurs. He wrote, "If such a subordinate position would meet your wishes some arrangements might be made for your engagement here." 14 March--Hatcher offered Douglass a position at Carnegie Museum with a salary of $50.00 per month and expenses in the field. "Should you engage with us I should wish you to dispose of your private collection either to this museum or elsewhere, preferably to this of course if we could agree as to its value." 18 March--W. J. Holland, director of Carnegie Museum, approved Douglass's hiring and wrote "Of course as I wrote you in replying to your letter of inquiry, if you come here and we prove mutually agreeable I shall want you to remain permanently and I think it very desirable that your collections should become the property of this institution." Carnegie Museum was willing that Douglass prepare his memoir (identifications) with drawings by the museum's draftsman, and have it published "without any expense to yourself. . . . "Given an opportunity of working up and properly publishing your material at the expense of the institution with which you are permanently connected I think it only fair that the collection should become the property of the institution at a merely nominal cost." 14 April--Hatcher refused Douglass's asking price of $500 for his collection and gave him until 1 January 1903 to dispose of his collection and decide whether he would work for the museum. 17 April--Douglass accepted the employment offer at Carnegie Museum. 2 May--Hatcher wrote that Douglass should plan to start work on 1 June. He wanted him to "get out a preliminary description of all new material and then go ahead working with a view to monographing the faunas of the various horizons. I want you to secure this field to yourself." 15 May--Hatcher in reviewing a paper written by Douglass made some alterations and suggestions where he disagreed with Douglass's thesis "that dinosaurs lived contemporaneously with the higher mammals." June--Letters from Hatcher to Douglass in the field keeping in contact with him and his activities. 17 July--Schedule of Hatcher's trip to three field projects in Wyoming and Montana including Douglass's. 26 September--Instructions from Hatcher for shipping Douglass's collection. He requested a car from Burlington Railroad pick up Douglass's collection at Billings and two other collections in Wyoming. 6 October--Final instructions from Hatcher for shipping collections to Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1902
16 1-2
Correspondence Business and personal [01] | Business and personal [02]
27 January--W. D. Matthew, American Museum of Natural History, in answer to Douglass's question on nomenclature. Douglass was challenged when he used a name for one of his fossil "beasts" which had already been used in a scientific publication. 19 October--Telegram informing Douglass that a position at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, had been temporarily filled. 14 November--Invitation from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists of America to present papers at the meeting in December.
1903
16 3-4
Correspondence Business and personal [01] | Business and personal [02]
5 March--Letter of rejection for a research assistantship with Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C., for which Douglass had applied. 20 December--Announcement of publication of Douglass's article on the source of gold in Alder Gulch in
1904
16 5-21
Correspondence Business and personal [1905] | Business and personal [1906] | Business and personal [1907] | Business and personal [1908] | Business and personal [1909] | Business and personal [1910] | Business and personal [1911] | Business and personal [1912] | Business and personal [1913] | Business and personal [1914] | Business and personal [1915] | Business and personal [1916] | Business and personal [1917] | Business and personal [1918] | Business and personal [1919] | Business and personal [1920] | Business and personal [1921]
This correspondence records the beginning of Douglass's employment by Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was also a period of considerable writing by Douglass. His publications and papers were widely circulated and commented on through correspondence to him. There is correspondence from the Smithsonian Institution, the United States Geological Survey, the Museum of Natural History, etc., which were interested in Douglass's findings and in paleontology generally. In 1917 there is correspondence relating to the shipment of fossils from the dinosaur quarry in Jensen, Utah. Douglass taught an extension course for the University of Utah at the quarry in Jensen in 1917. Nineteen students were enrolled. Fd 20 contains a report written in 1920 by Douglass to Douglas Stewart, director of Carnegie Museum, which gives a detailed description of the quarry and the progress of the diggings. He wrote, "We have now by far the largest and best collection of middle mesozoic dinosaurs in the world."
1905-1921
17 1-2
Correspondence
A considerable portion of this correspondence is related to possible petroleum deposits in the Uinta Basin. 22 November--In answer to inquiries about obtaining skeletons of dinosaurs from the University of Utah and Smithsonian Institution, Douglass explained the excavation cost of a skeleton and why it would be less if crews presently working at the site were used.
1922
17 3-4
Correspondence
18 January and 5 February--Douglass wrote Dr. George P. Merrill and Dr. Charles D. Walcott at the Smithsonian Institution describing the dangers to the quarry since Carnegie Museum had finished their excavations and left the quarry exposed and unprotected. Douglass stated that while he lived there he would act as a guard until the future of the Monument was decided. He estimated that in 1922, twelve hundred or more visited the Monument. Dr. Walcott was in charge of Dinosaur National Monument at this time. 7 March--Letter to American Museum of Natural History, New York City, stating the need for protection of Dinosaur National Monument. A bill was before Congress regarding the Monument. 29 May--Letter from Smithsonian expressing gratitude to Douglass for taking charge of protecting the Monument. 10 July and 15 July--Correspondence between Dr. Pack, University of Utah, and Douglass arranging for a dinosaur fossil for the university. 11 December--Douglass to Dr. George Thomas, president of the University of Utah, on the progress in excavating the dinosaur skeleton for the university.
1923
17 5-6
Correspondence
16 January--The asked for and received an article, "Geology and Myth," by Douglass which was published later that month. 11 March--Douglass wrote a friend, "I have superintended the unearthing of about 350,000 pounds of fossils in the rock here--10 car loads." 10 April--Letter to L. E. Camomile, publisher of , from Douglass asking permission to use some of their photographs to illustrate an article for the which will describe his views and plans "to get the Dinosaur National Monument fitted up so it will be a real pleasure and an educator to the public. . . . "The plan is to uncover a space on the ledge of about 140 feet in length and 20 feet in height so that the huge skeletons and bones lie in relief like a great picture or ancient bas-relief." Douglass hints of activity in the oil industry in Uinta Basin. May--Correspondence between Frederick S. Dellen-baugh and Douglass exchanging interests and knowledge of the area near Dinosaur National Monument. Dellenbaugh described the spot where Escalante camped and forded the Green River, and Douglass described the area as it ws in 1924. Correspondence continued through 1924. 14 August--In a letter to enclosing his article, Douglass explained the photographs and a chart of the quarry showing the bones of skeletons. He suggested that the area of the proposed museum be masked out for the article. In the same letter he wrote that work for the University of Utah was nearly finished at the quarry and the quarry would be abandoned unless Congress passed the proposed bill.
1924
17 7
Correspondence
From December 1924 until May 1925 Douglass was in California where Pearl was regaining her health and Gawin was in school. While in California he tried to make contacts with oil companies hoping to secure investment capital for oil exploration in the Uinta Basin. Douglass had commitments to assist in the dinosaur laboratory at the request of Dr. George Thomas, president of the University of Utah, and to assist a paleontological team from the University of Michigan in excavations at dinosaur quarry.
1925
17 8
Correspondence
During this year Douglass worked for the University of Utah in the geology laboratory assemblying the paleontological exhibit. Correspondence between Douglass and J. H. Ratliff, exploration engineer, Vernal, Utah, expressing their concern for development of Dinosaur National Monument. Without protection, the site was exposed to serious damage and loss. Correspondence concerning their interest in the development of the Uinta Basin oil exploration. Both Douglass and Ratliff had made scientific studies of parts of the area and hoped to find financial aid from oil companies for intensive exploration. 31 January--In a letter to Ratliff, Douglass wrote of a Uinta Basin meeting to be held in Salt Lake City. "Our main objects are first to help promote the National Monument Museum Bill. We want to know whether the Chamber of Commerce here is going to take hold and help or whether they are going to do nothing, as usual." 12 February--Douglass to Ratliff, "You know something of my ideas in regard to the oil in the basin. Every trip in the field only confirms my conclusions but I haven't won over the money interest yet, neither am I making a campaign. I know the time will come when the data will be wanted and I have it when it is needed. If I die they work it out as I did, yet I feel impelled to put the data on record." Douglass then gave Ratliff his theories and findings on the evidence of oil in Uinta Basin. "This for the present, is just between you and I." 6 September--Douglass to Dr. William J. Holland of Carnegie Museum asking about a pension for himself which had been discussed a number of years before. "As you know I served Carnegie Museum from 1902 to 1923 . . . [when] I asked for, and obtained leave of absence. . . . But in reality I served the museum from 1894 when I began collecting new fossil mammals from the Tertiary of Montana, as all of this collection on which I spent my time and money for eight years was practically given to the museum when I entered its service, and most of my scientific work in the museum afterward was based on this material."
1926
17 9-10
Correspondence
Letters between Douglass and Ratliff sharing ideas and hopes for the development of the oil business and Uinta Basin generally. 7 March--Letter reveals the seriousness of Douglass's financial situation. The position with the University of Utah was terminated because of lack of funds and Douglass was without an income. 26 March--Douglass to Mrs. Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, California, asking permission to quote from Burbank's writings in an article he was preparing on cactus fossils. May-December--Correspondence related to the Uinta Basin Industrial Convention held August 3, 4, 5, at Vernal, Utah. Douglass was asked to help with the exhibits which, it was hoped, would create interest in the Uinta Basin. Douglass was also asked to address the General Assembly. His topic was to be "Hidden Wonders of the Uinta Basin." During part of 1927 Douglass traveled to Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico to check out oil wells and properties. Douglass remained constant in his belief that the Uinta Basin held great resources, especially oil.
1927
17 11
Correspondence
Correspondence related to Douglass's oil interests in the Uinta Basin. 15 May--From Douglass to Western Venture Corporation, Salt Lake City Utah. "You desire my opinion as to the chances of obtaining oil on the holdings of the Western Venture Corporation near Vernal in Uintah County, Utah." He then outlined in detail his conviction that oil could be obtained on the holdings of the corporation.
1928
17 12-13
Correspondence
26 January and 25 February--Letters from E. Raymond Hall, University of California, Berkeley, informing Douglass that his "A Change of name for " would be published in the Hall wrote that the species Douglass named "appears to be distinct from any yet described." 14 May--To Professor L. E. Akely, University of South Dakota, from Douglass describing his early days at the school and his affection and high regard for the president and professors. He wrote of the years that had passed; his discovery of the dinosaur quarry at Jensen, Utah; his connection with Carnegie Museum; and of his present interest in oil and gathering fossil plants and insects. 15 May--A discouraging letter from Douglass to an author asking for information and photographs for an article on Dinosaur National Monument. Douglass refused, "I have spent all the energy on it that I feel like doing until there are some concerted efforts that bid fair to be successful." He described the neglect and damage since the government designated it a national monument but failed to fund any improvements or protection. 19 October--Douglass to Senator Reed Smoot regarding Smoot's interest in securing a power plant for the upper Colorado River. He hoped the study would include Split Mountain Canyon which would provide "an ideal power site." The letter was answered by the United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, indicating Split Mountain Canyon was being considered. 26 November--To Dr. Ralph W. Chaney, University of California, Berkeley, expressing Douglass's interest in fossil fruits and flowers. "To me one of the greatest fascinations is the fact that the world as it was--the landscapes of the past--are coming more and more into view and giving the past a marvelous interest."
1929
17 14-16
Correspondence
This correspondence continued with inquiries about fossils and oil with Douglass writing detailed answers to all the questions, ever generous in sharing his knowledge, experience, and collections. 1 July--To President George Thomas, University of Utah, offering the university some of his collections and to continue collecting for the institution. He wrote that he had been "shut out entirely from any connection with the University. "To do the work I wish to do and should do it will be necessary to be financed. This is why I am writing to those in the East who are interested . . . and why I came to write to you. . . . I am more convinced than formerly that in Utah there will some time be one of the greatest schools of geological learning and research in the world . . . . The rocks, the formations, cross sections of the earth's history, the ancient life and the processes which have made the earth are all, or nearly all, here in easy reach and blessed will be geologists eyes when they " There are similar offers to several major institutions all of whom were unable to finance either the purchase of Douglass's collections or a dig for camel fossils in Montana. accepted for publication Douglass's article "A Remarkable Fossil Plant," on the prickly pear. 22 December--Douglass to Dr. George Thomas again offering him his collection since "I, of course, need a little money soon; but for the greater part of it I feel confident that I could await your convenience." (Douglass had been told by his physician that he must have surgery.)
1930
17 17
Correspondence
Series of letters, several by C. N. Strevell, to institutions attempting to sell the collections of Earl Douglass after his death. Two letters from Frederick S. Dellenbaugh--one suggesting that Dinosaur National Monument be named after Earl Douglass, and one suggesting that the name of Green River, Utah, be changed to avoid confusion.
1931-1932
17 18
Correspondence
10 September 1937--A. C. Boyce, Jr., from Dinosaur National Monument to Pearl Douglass trying to arrange a time to pick up artifacts of Earl Douglass.
1934-1937
17 19
Correspondence
Letters of Earl Douglass submitting poetry, stories, and articles for publication with rejection letters from publishers.
1930
Correspondence--Business and Personal (William J. Holland, Director, Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Box Folder
18 1
Correspondence
These letters describe Douglass's activities in Jensen, Utah, while looking for dinosaur fossils. By way of instruction Holland related to Douglass what Carnegie Museum had in mind for him to do. Many of the letters are concerned with finances. Douglass was always short of money for his work, and the museum was always hesitant about sending more. This financial dialogue is throughout the correspondence. A letter to Holland from Douglass dated December 1907 outlined the exploration of the Uinta Basin for fossils. This is perhaps the most complete description of what Douglass did.
1905-1910
18 2
Correspondence
Boxcars of fossils were shipped from Jensen, Utah, to Carnegie Museum. There are detailed accounts of this process in these letters. A letter (9 June 1915) described a trip Holland made to the quarry to visit Douglass. A good description of the site is included.
1911-1915
18 3
Correspondence
Correspondence between the United States Department of the Interior and Carnegie Museum for continued exploration after the quarry was designated Dinosaur National Monument in 1915. Holland frequently chided Douglass for not following the museum staff's instructions. It was the "housekeeping" chores Douglass was slow to accomplish.
1916-1918
18 4
Correspondence
Douglass and Holland maintained a friendly but formal relationship as demonstrated in this correspondence. Comments in these letters shed light on the personalities of these men. During the latter years, Douglass kept copies of his letters to Holland which are included. These furnish a good description of Douglass's activities at the quarry at this time. A letter of 17 May 1922 describes the discovery of a full skeleton.
1919-1927
Correspondence--Business and Personal (Carnegie Museum)
Box Folder
19 1
Correspondence
Much of this correspondence involved finances--who will pay Douglass, the purchase of equipment, how the staff was to be paid, etc. Of special interest is a copy of a letter Douglass sent to Andrew Carnegie on 27 February 1912 describing the work at the quarry and the rich resource Carnegie Museum owned as a result of Douglass's efforts. The letters thank Carnegie for his personal interest in the project.
1905-1915
19 2
Correspondence
Most of this correspondence was from Douglas Stewart, assistant director, Carnegie Museum, and involved financial matters. George F. Sheers, auditor, Carnegie Institute, also wrote Douglass concerning receipts for purchases, etc.
1916-1921
19 3
Correspondence
Much of this correspondence involved shipping dinosaur bones to Pittsburgh by rail, obviously a large and complicated task. The museum was able to handle the task as demonstrated by a letter to Douglass from Douglas Stewart 16 November 1922. "I am still in hopes of securing free transportation over the Union Pacific from Denver to Omaha, though I have not heard definitely from the President of that Railroad as yet."
1922
19 4
Correspondence
Correspondence involving finances and shipment of dinosaur bones.
1923
19 5
Correspondence
Douglass wrote Stewart about removing dinosaur skeletons for the University of Utah and doing geological work for private companies (28 April 1924). Letter of 16 July 1926 to Pearl Douglass from Elizabeth D. Courtney, secretary to Douglas Stewart, related the death of Stewart and commented on the workings of Carnegie Museum.
1924-1930
19 6
Correspondence
Earl Douglass to O. A. Peterson (19 April) asking who to communicate with to apply for a pension from Carnegie Museum for his "23 years [employment]--practically 30 years, as my collections and scientific work went there for the 7 years previous to my engagement there." On 25 May, A. Avin-off, director of the museum, wrote to Douglass, "It is most unfortunate that a sum could not be allowed you after so many years of service at this institution, but I am sure that every possible consideration has been extended under the circumstances."
1927
Correspondence--Business and Personal
Box Folder
20 1-4
John Bristol | Part [01] | Part [02] | Part [03] | Part [04] |
John Bristol, a professional writer who made his home in Vernal, Utah, sought to assist Douglass in his writing. Bristol criticized, edited, and submitted for publication several of Douglass's scientific and popular works. Bristol also served as a ghost writer for Douglass. Douglass wrote to Bristol 10 January 1926, "I probably could make a success of the writing but a manuscript returned hits me with hammer blows and the spot is sore for years. So I seldom do this." Bristol wrote on 14 June 1926, "Have mailed the 'Goblin City' story to the and the 'Dinosaur National Monument' article to the of the The latter paper has always been partial to Utah publicity matters. We will see what comes of the articles."
1925-1927
20 5
Henry Fairfield Osborn
The correspondence between Henry Fairfield Osborn, curator of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and Douglass was scientific in nature and involved Osborn's opinions of Douglass's finds and identification of various fossils. Osborn also reviewed some of Douglass's articles and made favorable comments.
1908-1922
20 6
Dinosaur National Monument
Correspondence primarily between Douglass, the United States Department of the Interior, and those interested in developing a natural museum at Dinosaur National Monument. A letter (30 January 1926) from Douglass to Stephen T. Mather, director of the National Park Service, outlined plans for the Dinosaur Quarry Museum (now in existence at Dinosaur National Monument). Further descriptions of the museum project are included in letters to and from congressmen (notably Don B. Colton of Utah) and the governor (George H. Dern). Douglass was influential in securing the museum.
1922-1927
20 7
Moffat Railroad and Tunnel
William H. Paul of Myton, Utah, asked Douglass for comments on the resources of Uinta Basin. Included is an address by Horace W. Sheley urging the people of Uinta Basin to petition the Interstate Commerce Commission to permit the construction of a railroad from Craig, Colorado, to Utah Valley.
1930
Correspondence--Business and Personal (Marsh-Felch)
Box
21
Othniel Charles Marsh to Marshall P. Felch
This collection of more than 150 letters was given (ca. 1925) to Earl Douglass by Sarah Felch Zimmerman, daughter of Marshall P. Felch. Marsh, professor of vertebrate paleontology (the first in the United States) at Yale University, was placed in charge of the United States Geological Survey's work in vertebrate paleontology in 1882. Marsh is credited with the discovery of many fossil vertebrates and the description of many more, with published works on fossil descriptions and on fossil vertebrates. These letters were written when Marsh was with the USGS and Marshall P. Felch was at the quarry in Garden Park, Colorado. Felch served for more than ten years as Marsh's field man--digging, numbering, packing, shipping, and diagraming the bones and the quarry. Marsh's correspondence instructed Felch on the execution of these duties, arranged for salaries of Felch and his employees, and in many letters described his (Marsh's) progress in assembling the fossils. In the interview Douglass had with Sarah Felch Zimmerman in 1925, she stated that Felch's letters were in New Haven, Connecticut (presumably Yale University). In one letter to Felch, Marsh wrote that he was binding all of Felch's letters.
1882-1891
Folder
21 1
21 2 1882-1883
21 3 1884
21 4 1886
21 5 1886
21 6 1888-1891

V:  Dinosaur National MonumentReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
22 1
Discovery Story
Sometime after the discovery of dinosaur bones in August of 1909 in Vernal, Utah, Douglass wrote "Story of Discovery of Dinosaur Monument," which describes the actual uncovering of the bones and his reactions to this monumental event.
22 2
Area Description
Description of the area where dinosaur bones were discovered and the locale of the dinosaur quarry. Douglass located Hidden Hollow and Orchid Spring, areas which were later acquired by him as a Desert Land Claim.
1909-1910
22 3
Resolution
Resolution by the Uintah Club of Vernal, Utah, asking Donald B. Colton, representative from Utah, to introduce a bill in Congress to appropriate $100,000 for the creation of a museum at Dinosaur National Monument. The resolution also gives a brief history of the site and the Douglass discoveries.
22 4
Museum
Notes and outline of Douglass's plan for the museum to be constructed at Dinosaur National Monument. These plans include the actual dimensions for the proposed structure and were used for the present facility.
22 5
Story Notes
Notes to be used for a creative story on the discovery of the Dinosaur National Monument site. The notes and story outline describe how the area is unique, the mystery of dinosaurs, and how the discovery relates to the origin of man.
22 6
Public Notice
Statement for local publication about visiting times, tour guides, and necessary fees charged visitors at the quarry. The notice, written by Douglass, predates the 1922 rules issued by the United States Park Service.
1922
22 7
American Museum of Natural History
List of bones and fossils collected in 1894 in the Uinta Basin by O. A. Peterson for the American Museum of Natura l History.
1894
22 8
Carnegie Museum--Annual Reports
Reports outlining, briefly, the activities of the Carnegie team at the dinosaur quarry. Lists of the major discoveries or bones removed are included. The 1923 report states that five nearly complete skeletons were exposed representing five distinct dinosaur species.
1922, 1923
22 9
Carnegie Museum
List and remarks on fossils sent from Carnegie Museum to T. S. Stanton in 1904 for his description. Also included in Stanton's report on the fossil examination dated 1904.
1904
22 10
Carnegie Museum
Lists of boxes and description of numbered dinosaur bones in each box sent to Carnegie Museum by Earl Douglass. Also included is a brief list of rejected specimens.
1917
22 11
Carnegie Museum
Lists of numbered boxes containing dinosaur bones to be shipped to the museum. The small notebooks also contain notes on the daily shipping activities and how each container was sent.
1917, 1923
22 12
Bone Descriptions
Record book listing each fossil found under a skeleton number and bone number with a complete scientific description.
22 13
University of Utah
In the fall of 1924 Douglass made arrangements with Dr. Frederick J. Pack, University of Utah, to ship dinosaur bones to the university for study and display. The illustrated clippings and articles describe the 220 mile move from Jensen to Salt Lake City, Utah. The 80,000 pounds of bones were hauled in fourteen wagons pulled by teams of horses.
1924
22 14
Account Book
Lists of expenses for a fossil expedition near Helena, Montana. The notes also include expedition activities for September and October and descriptive lists of collected fossil specimens.
1902
22 15
Account Book
Record of checks issued for goods and wages at dinosaur quarry. Wages for men working in the quarry were from $50.00 to $87.00 per month.
1917-1921
22 16
Account Book
Brief daily descriptions of the activities of each man who worked for the quarry. Also a record of checks issued for goods and wages.
1921-1922

VI:  Scientific NotesReturn to Top

These copious notes on a variety of subjects are Douglass's reactions to natural events and his observations about things he learned. Some accounts are his impressions from reading and studying. These two types of notes are considered "original." Douglass also copied a great deal of information from published sources, and this material has been labeled "published" notes. Some correspondence and related material concerning companies for mineral development with which Douglass became involved are also included in this section. These items are filed under the resource name with the scientific notes on the same subject. The notes are filed alphabetically by subject.

Container(s) Description Dates
Animals to Fossils
Box Folder
23 1-3
Animal
Original and published notes on animal classification, migration, and habitat. Includes articles on bees, African animals, alligators and crocodiles, bison, and fish.
23 4-5
Dinosaurs
Original and published notes which include (Bulletin of the University of Utah Extension Division, September 1925), and two mounted, printed copies of geological plates showing dinosaur skeletons from Field Columbian Museum.
23 6-7
Eocene Period
Original and published notes.
23 8
Evolution
Published notes.
23 9-10
Flowers
Original notes on fossilized flowering plants--including a series of article drafts and notes titled "Flowers of the Past," articles titled "An Old and Distinguished Family of Plants" about Pasque flowers, and "An Expedition to Hunt for Fossil Flowers"--and notes on a collecting expedition, how fossils are made, the Western Columbine, paleobotany, fossil plants, family genera of plants, and plant distribution. Also included is a bibliography of books needed for a study of fossil plants.
23 11-13
Fossils
Original and published notes on fossilized plants and mammal bones.
23 14
Fossil Lists
Lists of fossil collections of and by Earl Douglass titled "Geological Specimens Collected by Earl Douglass, 1903," "A Brief Outline of the Collections of Earl Douglass," "List of Fossil Collections of Earl Douglass," "Some of the Fossil-Bearing Formations from Which Earl Douglass Has Made Collections . . .," "List of Mammals, Skulls and Turtles," "Places to Collect and Search for Fossils," and miscellaneous notes.
Geology
Box Folder
24 1-3
Geology--General
Original and published notes.
24 4-13
Geology--Africa to Nebraska
Original notes on the geology of the Dakota area and notes from published sources about Africa, Asia, Australia, California, Canada, the Dakotas, Montana, and Nebraska.
24 14
Geology--Rocky Mountains
Published notes about the mountainous areas of Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho.
24 15
Geology--South America
Published notes on Brazil and Central America.
Volume
24 1
Geology--Uinta Basin and Uinta Mountains
Original notes in a large record book in which Douglass hoped to "collect data and begin to get it in shape for a paper or papers and perhaps a monograph on the Uinta Basin Geology to include something of Paleontology." (page 13) The book has notes on unique features of the basin, fossil beds, and natural resources, especially with regard to the potential for oil development.
Folder
24 16
Geology--Uinta Basin and Uinta Mountains
Original notes on the area geology and natural resources.
Gilson Asphaltum Company to Lakes
Box Folder
25 1-3
Gilson Asphaltum Company--Correspondence
Between 1928 and 1929 Douglass worked for this company as a geologist. The correspondence with Homer D. Ford and other company officials is concerned with equipment, supplies, payments, employees, and lengthy reports on the company's mineral holdings and Douglass's progress.
1928-1929
25 4
Gilson Asphaltum Company--Accounts and Vouchers
Statements of expenses for needed equipment, vouchers and expense account statements for Douglass, and paid bills and receipts.
1928-1929
25 5
Gilson Asphaltum Company--Holdings Reports
"Report on the Gilsonite Holdings of the Gilson Asphaltum Company in Utah and Colorado," is Douglass's 42-page report outlining the geological factors which create gilsonite veins and the incidence of these conditions in the Uinta Basin area. Both the preliminary and final reports are filed here. Also included are outlines for reports on the mineral gilsonite.
1929
25 6
Gilson Asphaltum Company--Ore Valuations
Tables of assessed valuation of ore tonnage available in each vein of the company's holdings for state tax purposes.
1928-1929
25 7
Gilson Asphaltum Company--Ore Estimates
Estimates of gilsonite tonnage available in workable veins.
25 8-19
Gilson Asphaltum Company--Veins
Data on individual veins including the discovery, location, and extent; workings and work progress; vein quality; and field notes on the work. Veins included are Baxter, Black Diamond, Black Dragon, Bonanza-Tabor System, Carbon, Chapita, Cowboy, Harrison, Independent, Little Emma, Nigger Baby, Pride of the West, Rainbow, South Harrison and West South Harrison, Wagonhound, and Uinta.
25 20
Gilsonite
Original notes.
25 21
Lakes--General
Notes from published sources.
25 22-26
Lakes--Africa to South America
Notes from published sources on lakes in Africa, Asia, Montana, Utah, and South America.
Mountains to Petroleum
Box Folder
26 1-6
Mountains--Dakota to South America
Original notes on mountains in Montana and the Rocky Mountains, and notes from published sources on the Dakotas, Montana, Rocky Mountains, and South America.
26 7-12
Natural History
Notes from published sources, including Thawaites and , on explorations of the American continent and the flora and fauna of the country both past and present.
26 13-18
Petroleum--Douglass Oil and Hydrocarbon Company
In 1919 Douglass organized the company and named himself president. Other company officers were Louis A. Bailey, John Y. Smith, Herschel C. Smith, and Earl Bailey. The company acquired the oil rights to patented lands located south and west of Vernal, Utah, comprising more than 2,200 acres, and sold 100,000 shares of stock at $1.00 per share. Douglass used his reputation as a geologist to convince others of his conviction that oil had accumulated in these areas. The documents include correspondence between company officials and investors from 1928 to 1929, correspondence and decisions on leases of the United States Department of the Interior from 1924 to 1930, lease applications, the company articles of incorporation of 1929, reports on the corporation and the lease areas, and miscellaneous bills, receipts, maps, and plats of the lease area.
Petroleum to Tertiary, Miscellaneous
Box Folder
27 1
Petroleum--National Oil Company
In 1928 and 1929 Douglass consulted with this company on sources of oil around Vernal, Utah. Included are letters about the National Oil Company holdings, reports on the holdings, and lease agreements.
27 2
Petroleum--Drilling Logs
Logs of well drilling operations supervised by Douglass listing rock formations at various drill depths.
27 3-5
Petroleum
Original notes on oil formation and drilling and on the oil possibilities of the Green River Formation and the Uinta Basin.
27 6
Petroleum
Notes from published sources and copies of publications on oil and oil production.
27 7-10
Plants
Original and published notes.
27 11-15
Rivers
Notes from published sources about rivers in general and the rivers of Africa, Asia, the Dakotas, the midwestern United States, Montana, and South America.
27 16-18
Tertiary Period
Original and published notes on this geologic time period.
27 19
Miscellaneous Fragments
Portions of notes made by Douglass.

VII:  WritingsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Published Articles
Box Folder
28 1
"Fossil Mammalia of the White River Beds of Montana," Transactions of the American Philosophical Society , (20 December 1901):43pp.
28 2
"A Hunt for Extinct Animals," The Guide to Nature , (1 April 1908):8 pp.
28 3
"Back to the Days of the Dinosaur," Kansas City Star Magazine , (3 August 1926):3pp.
28 4
"The Goblin City," Nature Magazine (February 1927): 2pp.
Included is a letter to Douglass from Richard W. Westwood notifying Douglass of the acceptance of his article.
28 5
"Fossil Records of Utah," Professional Engineer , (15 December 1930):3 pp.
28 6
List of Papers by Douglass in the Peabody Museum Library or in Professor Lull's Library
27 November 1920
Unpublished Manuscripts
Boxes 29 and 30 are manuscripts written by Douglass on a variety of subjects related to science.
Box Folder
29 1
Birds
"Mud Hens." Biological description of the mud hen or "coot."; "Egg Hunting in South Dakota." Account of an expedition, 2 June 1887, to Sanford's Lake, South Dakota, to collect birds' eggs.
29 2
Carnegie Museum
"The Carnegie Museum Expedition in North Dakota, Montana and Idaho in the year, 1905." Account of trip to collect fossils of vertebrates and invertebrates for Carnegie Museum. Geologic problems were analyzed.
29 3
College Days
"Genius." Attributes that make a genius; "Classification Juniors." Humorous account of South Dakota Agricultural College junior class as if they were a scientific class with genus and species; "A September Afternoon in South Dakota." Personal trip to Big Sioux River with friends; "The Oldest Monument." Description of rock outcropping of the Archaeon formation in Minnesota.
29 4
Dinosaur National Monument
"The Dinosaur National Monument and Its Surroundings." Account of dinosaur bones and their discovery and description of the land. (Three versions, only one complete.)
29 5
Dinosaur National Monument
"An Interesting Exploring Expedition and Its Results." Brief account of Douglass entering the dinosaur quarry area the first time; "Significance of a Natural Museum at the Dinosaur National Monument"; "The Dinosaur National Monument." Description of the monument and its significance; "The Carnegie Museum Dinosaur Quarry and National Monument." Brief resume of events leading to the discovery of the quarry.
29 6
Fossils
"Dreams and Realizations of a Fossil Hunter." Importance of the discovery of fossils from a philosophical point of view centering on the thesis that such discovery helps man know his own background.
29 7
Fossils
"How the Records of Past Ages are Made." Autobiographical account of fossil hunting in Montana; "A Day With Fossil Insects." Discovery of fossilized insects in eastern Utah; "Western Explorations for Fossil Animals." Incomplete manuscript; "Discovery of Plants of Past Ages." Incomplete manuscript; "Hunting Unknown Animals." Expedition in Montana looking for fossilized animals; "Talks With a Fossil Hunter." First talk, written under the pseudonym of Douglass Lear, answers questions on the subject of fossils and their discovery.
29 8
Fossils
"Collecting Extinct Animals in the West." Account of an expedition; "Ancient Life in a Mountain Valley." Written under the pseudonym Douglass Lear, Douglass portrays himself as a lone "miner" looking for bones not sapphires as thought by the men in the story.
29 9
Fossils
Incomplete manuscripts.
29 10
History
"What Can the Life of Columbus Teach Us?" The contribution of Columbus to mankind and that each person should try to make his/her own contribution; "Where Knowledge Begins." Commentary on progress; Untitled. Description of the entry of the covered wagon into Missoula, Montana, in 1899; Untitled. Historical account of Saint Louis and the Mississippi River; "The Laramie Question." Account of the Hayden Expedition, beginning in 1854 along the Missouri River in search of shells and plants.
29 11
History
Untitled. History of exploration in the West, with emphasis on the history of collecting natural specimens, beginning in 1893 with Lewis and Clark.
30 1-2
Lecture Notes
"Some Hints on Teaching Physiology," "Science Teaching in the Country School," "Lecture on Fossil Plants," "Origin of Plants," "Man," "Higher Experiences," "Education Principles," "Religion," "The Real Questions," "Stories and Myths of Animals and Plants," "What the Dinosaurs Mean to the University, Salt Lake City, Utah and to the Country in General," "Fossil Hunting," etc.
30 3
Petroleum
"On the Trail of One of Nature's Mysteries." Discovery of oil shale in eastern Utah and western Colorado.
30 4
Petroleum
"How Petroleum is Made." Creation of petroleum in geologic history; "The Hunt for Petroleum." How and where to find petroleum.
30 5
Petroleum
"The Hunt for Oil." Where oil can be found throughout the world; "Petroleum." The value of oil and its necessary conservation.
30 6
Plants
"Milkweed and Its Uses"; Untitled. Varieties of trees.
30 7
Plants
"An Old and Distinguished Family of Plants." Biological history of the "buttercup, crowfoot or ranuculacae" family of plants--notes included.
30 8
Soil
"The Formation of Humus" and "The Origin of Soil." Scientific accounts of where soil comes from.
30 9-10
Uinta Basin
"The Source of Petroleum and Hydro Carbons in the Uinta Basin," "Source of Petroleum in Uinta Basin," "A Geological Problem. Petroleum in the Uinta Basin," "Geology of the Uinta Tertiary Deposits of the Uintah Basin, Utah," "Oil Indications in the Uinta Basin in Utah and Colorado," "Uinta Basin Outline of Geological History During Tertiary Times," and untitled notes.
30 11
White River Area, Colorado
"A Visit to a Ranch in Northwestern Colorado." Account of a visit to the White River area in Colorado.
30 12-13
Miscellaneous Manuscripts
"Music," "Nature and Literature," "Rivers," "The Books to Be," "Essay on the Golden Rule," and "Essay on Happiness"--article outlines and notes.
Manuscripts--Poetry
Earl Douglass was a poet by avocation and loved the art form. His poems covered a range of topics, but only a few were published. Bxs 31-32 contain his poetry.
Box Folder
31 1
Early Poetry
Early poetry written while Douglass was living in Medford, Minnesota (2 books).
pre-1900
31 2
Early Poetry
Many fragments.
pre-1900
31 3-6
Poetry
Over one hundred poems.
Volume
31 1
Poetry by Douglass
Poems copied into one book in 1926. This is a range of his poetry to that date.
Folder
32 1-5
Poetry
Over 135 poems.
32 6
Poetry for Publication
Douglass submitted a number of his poems to the publisher Walter Neale of New York. Douglass and Neale could not agree on terms of publishing--Douglass wanted more money; Neale wanted better poems. No agreement was reached. This correspondence, dated late in 1928, tells of their negotiations. The poems submitted by Douglass are included.
32 7
Poetry for Publication
Twenty-eight poems "selected and sent by Earl Douglass to the Stratford Publishing Company," according to a note with the poems written by Pearl Douglass. The publisher's letter of acceptance of these poems arrived the day of Earl Douglass's death.
Manuscripts--Stories and Essays
Earl Douglass was 'an inveterate writer of stories as well as poetry. These stories covered a variety of subjects, but few were ever published. Bxs 33-36 contain his stories and essays.
Box Folder
33 1-2
Publishers' Agents, Writing Schools
Burell Syndicate and the National Press Association.
33 3-8
Stories
"The Haunted Mesa," "Impressions in Stone," "The Strange Companion," "Talk with the Boys," "The Third Love," "The Liars Contest," "The Great Christmas Gift," "The Return of Mr. Shober," "The Spirit and the Bride," "The Legend of the Past," "The Change," etc.
34 1-10
Stories and Essays
These manuscripts, usually untitled, range in topics from religion to microbes. Many are only fragments.
Volume
35 1-3
Poem
"The Hunter." Douglass wrote several versions. It is not clear which manuscript was the final draft.
Folder
35 1-2
Poem
Continuation of volumes 1-3.
35 3
Story
"The Lost Lode," 1908.
35 4
Story
"The German Love Letter."
Volume
35 4
Story
"The Little Island."
36 1
Story
"Travels in Desolation."
36 2
Stories Written in 1908
"The Past Unveiled" and "Their First Love."
1908
36 3
Essays
Outline stories, articles, lectures, etc., started 4 June 1914.
36 4
Story
1916
36 5
Stories
A few narratives by Pearl Douglass.
Folder
36 1
Stories and Essays
36 2
Essays and Poetry
Writings by Pearl Douglass.
Reflections
Over the years Earl Douglass wrote prolifically in a variety of notebooks, bound and unbound. Often times he intended a particular book to contain only items of a specific nature, i.e., diaries, field notes, reflections, etc. However, this was not always the case and often the diaries contain reflections, the field notes diary entries, and the reflections diary entries', poems, etc. The books here titled Reflections contain a variety of entries but primarily are Douglass's ponderings and philosophies. The entries were not written on a regular basis. The following extracts are typical of the entries made over a period of years.
Box Volume
37-40 1
Reflections
  • "This book is to write what I please in!, what I feel and how I feel it. I often want to write because I feel like writing and think I ought to record the present thoughts as they pass so they can be used afterward." (page 7)
  • "Recently a new scheme has entered my mind. . . . I thought of writing a story of adventure and killing robbers on a lovely island . . . . I think I want a change, and killing people who need killing always did have an attraction for me." (page 15)
  • "I get enough physical exercise but it gives me pleasure to exercise my imagination." (page 23)
  • "Better is a genuine whole hearted sinner than an insincere sanctimonious hypocrite.
  • "Our age is so insincere and shallow that it must change or go down." (page 105)
  • "Alone and in the morning ones imagination is brighter and freer hope higher and life sweeter. Alone, or with a very close companion." (page 113)
  • "There is poetry in the common homely every-day scenes if one has the faculty of seeing them." (page 115)
  • "All through my life I have bought books thinking they would help me to write and get money back. But with me this seems to be the ever receding mirage." (page 119)
  • "I have wondered what I would do if I should sell a couple of things [manuscripts] and get a good price for them. I presume I would think that I could do almost anything." (page 125)
  • "I have worked faithfully for the institution [Carnegie] which has employed me, at first on an insulting wage--not worthy of the dignified apellation of a salary. To get this few dollars a month I was obliged to part with my collection at what they chose to pay--at about what I had paid for freight.
  • "Since then I have worked faithfully. I have added many valuable things to the collections and I have been so fortunate as to make one of the greatest discoveries ever made in the line on which has added immensely to this collection and has brought it much reputation and[?] fame.
  • "I have been a humble servant but have done the work cheerfully because I loved it. I have felt that I was fortunate that I could do my favorite work and have my expenses paid." (pages 129, 130)
  • "I am not the one to go and make a plea [to my employers] for myself to tell what I have done. I have tried that once or twice in time past and have been twitted with my assumed inferiority. I do it no more." (page 131)
1912-1914
37-40 2
Reflections--"Inspired Thoughts"
  • "[I] Thought to use this book only for inspired thoughts." (page 5)
  • "I think of the past but do not as a rule really see it as it was. . . .
  • "Am yet undoubtedly in bondage to some things which I hardly realize now, but probably will later." (page 15)
  • "The great sin of the age is frivolity, insincerity. . . .
  • "Wealth we say is the great vice of our people, but if we were more sincere--less frivolous--we would put a more just estimate on money." (page 25)
  • "I am certainly sorely in need of more money. But it is not to me the greatest thing and therefore the thought of it and the caring occupy but little of my time." (page 27)
  • "We need the out doors for the expansion of the mind for contemplation for higher thoughts, freedom for our lives. "We need more outdoor religion, less pent up narrow, foul air religion--often alas too fake in word, act and deed." (page 151)
  • "So far as I am concerned no matter how much I love other human beings I do love sometimes to be all, all, alone." (page 155)
  • "I do not believe that anyone ever made a true success of life without a faith--a belief in the unseen, in the value of life." (page 179)
  • "It is by scientific work that I make a living. But making a living is only a means to real living. Scientific thought is a basis, a training an advance toward truth, and true living if used rightly, but if one brings his higher being under the domain of ascertained natural science he will have a small soul and probably soon deny that he has any." (page 189)
1913
37-40 3
Reflections--"Experiments in Thinking"
  • "I see a fault in myself which is common to most who become ambitious or interested in anything. I want to do too much and my energies are dissipated." (page 13)
  • "I have not as much interest in purely scientific papers as I had but I am interested in geology and especially in the development of that country [Uinta Basin]. I long to be identified with it." (page 29)
  • "I am getting deeper all the time into the world my mind is creating. This world grows wider and more beautiful, more free and ethereal and yet more substantial. It is the spirits home, its dwelling place. I want to dwell in it more." (page 93)
  • "Am getting interested in landscape painting again. It goes with my other work. It will help even if the paintings are not used." (page 107)
  • "It seems that I am always writing about myself. But this is not intended for others and that is what it is for.
  • "I would like to manage others, tell them what to do and have them do it but I can't do that until I learn to manage myself. This is what I am trying to do now. My great work is self development." (page 109)
  • "This book was started to write the things which I crave to write not so much the sad or disagreeable things. But this life is full of unpleasant things." (page 155)
  • "Ambition is noble if it is the right kind. Religion is beautiful if it is broad and pure." (page 163)
  • "A belief in anything tends to make that thing real." (page 243)
  • "What if love and desire were taken away. Well I think we wouldnt have much of anything left. Life is love of and nourished by desire." (page 345)
  • "An important work is entrusted to me [excavating dinosaur bones]. I must be fully worthy of the trust.
  • "I have good men and they are interested in the work. I must set them an example of lively interest and faithfulness." (page 407)
  • "I am sure that the best working hypothesis is belief in the continuance of life, the only solution of the problem of a rational universe." (page 469)
  • "Man with his almost limitless powers was not made to travel in a narrow path with a limited view, through a world of endless grandeur and beauty." (page 493)
  • "But life is still a great drama. The end is not yet settled. The most vital things are still in doubt." (page 507)
1913-1915
37-40 4
Reflections--"Reminiscences"
  • "A true book is a partial revelation of a man's soul." (page 43)
  • "We are bound by circumstances but are our minds bound." (page 59)
  • "Books are common and easy to get but there is seldom an over-production of gratitude and appreciation. I think I am sending you something of value with this book as well as in it." (page 71)
1914
37-40 5
Reflections--"Experiments-Mental"
  • "It just occurred to me to use this book or a book for mental experiments: To see how the mind works. To follow its wandering." (page 2)
  • "Man is something besides a body, but many spend a life time trying to satisfy its demands and made poor work of it." (page 8)
  • "I know pretty nearly what is right for me in most things. The thing for me to do is to get busy and do them." (page 14)
  • "Many worship books. They seem to think all truth is in books. . . .
  • "Think of a man supposed to be a teacher or leader of men who never studied men except through the distorting medium of some book!" (page 69)
  • "Absolute truth we may not know. But what is obviously and plainly untrue we should reject." (page 71)
  • "But why as we grow older are we attracted toward spiritual things? Is it because earthly hopes fail?" (page 100)
  • "I have ideals of life but have not been able to live up to them. In the face of high thoughts are low and detestable thoughts and acts, irritability, anger, hatred, jealousy, ill nature." (page 107)
1914-1920
37-40 6
Reflections--"Thoughts and Philosophy Written at Random"
  • "Am beginning a new book. Have just finished a large one. Writing in it freely as I did gave me a good deal of pleasure and satisfaction." (page 29)
  • "I would so live that each day will add new experience to life." (page 34)
  • "I still wish for more freedom but it probably is best for me that I haven't more until I learn to use what I have properly." (page 37)
  • "A standard to live by is necessary." (page 54).
  • "I have just been thinking that we are too apt to sit in judgment." (page 57)
  • "I could not yield to doing work I knew not scientific. Would not compromise. Only real science or religion is honest. But oil not found by these methods and others not doing much better than I."
1914-1930
37-40 7
Reflections--"Thoughts"
  • "Expression is the fruit of human thought." (page 6)
  • "From one point of view it looks as if there were only two things in the way of man's greater comfort and happiness. One is death, the other lies in his own ignorance and perversity." (page 7)
  • "As I grow older it seems to me more and more that true happiness as well as usefulness lies in selfrealization." (page 11)
  • "My mind loves to wander to imaginary realms. It is right that it should I believe." (page 15)
  • "It is comparatively easy to make advancement but to hold firmly to what is gained requires greatness indeed." (page 33)
  • "If you wish to be something great be a human being not a lower animal." (page 36)
  • "I have a chance to do a great work here both for science and for ourselves, and I want to be an efficient instrument for the work. I want those who employ me to be fully satisfied with my work for them and I want to be satisfied with my own progress and the progress of my own work." (page 47)
  • "I think sometimes that life is hell anyway you look at it. One is put here without his consent, and with handicaps any way he may go and hedged round with trouble and perplexities which he must go thro sooner or later. If it is not one thing it's another." (page 305)
  • "But still at 56 I have dreams. He who has not dreams is but a dead coal from which the glow is gone." (page 307)
  • "I have labelled this book Self Development, but if there is any such thing it is different I think from what I conceived it then." (page 343)
  • "I have had high ideals and good intentions but what has it all amounted to?" (page 358)
  • "Thought is the proper and wholesome exercise of the mind." (page 403)
1915-1920
37-40 8
Reflections--"Thoughts"
  • "Of course our characters are a sum total of what we think and do." (page 4)
  • "Life is a struggle for existance. Many cannot look ahead with any very rational hope of things being much better." (page 7)
  • "I had begun this book with object of writing what I felt like writing and when I felt like it." (page 19)
  • "Man has always had a brain and a mind, but just what it is where it came from and its purpose he had spent little time trying to find out." (page 39)
  • "The things and forces of earth are complex. Life is complex, but for the first time, so far as we know we have reached the stage where the mind can almost conquer." (page 41)
  • "Does something of a man's peculiar thought and personality remain after he is gone? It does in the minds of others." (page 101)
  • "So many many books now yet so comparatively little in them." (page 118)
1917
37-40 9
Reflections--"The Spiritual"
  • "I have determined to devote this book to the spiritual." (page 6)
  • "And we read that the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, temperance, faith, life etc. In fact its fruits are all the best things those which bring happiness." (page 8)
  • "We look before and after, and pine for what is not." (page 12)
  • "Here is suggested one great defect in human nature. We work under stress. We dont do more than we are obliged to do. We find weeds to save our crops but we do not fight them to the finish and if some one would give us a restricted tract without a weed in it we would in some way let in a few little seeds and soon it would be overrun with weeds." (page 26)
  • "The intellectual and spiritual life must be a growth from what is within, watered and nourished by the spiritual forces in the unseen." (page 70)
  • "I feel that I have some talent. One may overestimate it. Yet all my life I have been down and those that I know are shallow have risen by pure gall." (page 124)
  • "Sometimes I think that when disease and sickness come, when all the phantoms of life have vanished, death after all is the best friend, a consummation most devoutly to be wished." (page 132)
  • "How could there be a fond God, to say nothing of a Heavenly Father and such a wicked, apparently hopeless world?" (page 164)
1920-1928
37-40 10
Reflections--"Inspirations"
  • "Began this book long ago with several others. Not had them for years. Things have changed. . . . Life no less interesting as lived but have philosophical doubts." (page 47)
  • "Man's self the principal thing." (page 67)
  • "Real knowledge can be tested. It will bear the light of a review." (page 69)
  • "I see no reason on earth why mammal skeletons older than Tertiary not preserved. Some one will find them. Wish I could. But all right if dont. Plenty to discover anyway." (page 96)
1929-1930
37-40 1920

VIII:  Miscellaneous MaterialsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
41 1
Bibliographies and Book Lists
41 2
Drawings and Pictures
Plants and prehistoric animals.
41 3
Programs
Plays, musicals, lectures, and concerts in Salt Lake City, Utah.
41 4
Psychical Research
Published material and two interviews Douglass had with psychics.
41 5
Publications--Carnegie Museum
Two articles from (no volume, no date):235-64--J. B. Hatcher, "Osteology of Haplocanthosaurus," and William J. Holland, "The Osteology of Diplodocus Marsh."
41 6
Publications--Carnegie Institute
Bulletins, Volume I (1927), Numbers 2, 3, 5, 6.
41 7
Publications--Oil
41 8
Publications--Paleontology
41 9
Publications--Uinta Basin Industrial Convention, Fort Duchesne, Utah
Program.
1926
41 10
Publications--Miscellaneous
Earl Douglass, "Microscopes and Men, , Volume IV (February 1893), Number 2.
41 11-13
Miscellaneous Notes
Newspaper Clippings
Box Folder
42 1
Newspaper Articles by Earl Douglass
"Science and Books," , no date; "Source of Petroleum in Uintah Basin," , 8 May 1914; "Geological Problem; Petroleum in Basin," , 10 April 1914; "The Physical Features of the Uintah Basin," , 29 March 1914; "The Source of Petroleum and Hydro Carbons in the Uintah Basin," , 24 April and 1 May 1914; "Oration of Professor Earl Douglass Before the Uintah Academy Graduating Class, 1915," , 14 May 1915.
42 2
Newspaper Clippings--Carnegie Museum
42 3
Newspaper Clippings--Dinosaur National Monument
42 4
Newspaper Clippings--Family and Personal
42 5
Newspaper Clippings--Fossils
42 6
Newspaper Clippings--Minerals
42 7
Newspaper Clippings--South Dakota Agricultural College Uprising
1893
General Materials
Box
43
Diaries and Biographical Sketch
These items were added to the collection in 1988 and 1992.
1894-1899
map-case-folder
1
Oversize Materials
Map showing Douglass's ranch, permits, prospects. Hillcreek oil dome in Uinta County, Utah. Map of Vernal area. South Wagon Mound tract. May of Utah with Douglass's notes. Map of Uinta County.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Geology--Uinta Basin (Utah and Colo.)
  • Gilsonite
  • Petroleum

Personal Names

  • Douglass, Fernando
  • Douglass, Gawin
  • Douglass, Pearl, 1879-1955
  • Felch, M. P.
  • Holland, W. J. (William Jacob), 1848-1932
  • Marsh, Othniel Charles, 1831-1899

Corporate Names

  • Carnegie Museum

Geographical Names

  • Dinosaur National Monument (Colo. and Utah)
  • Uinta Basin (Utah and Colo.)--Geology