Civil War era Paleontology

[37th Tennessee]

Hello all,

I've been searching for a while for publications of dinosaurs during the war era, and have had very little luck. I've only been able to find trivial facts and dates, but nothing as far as how the general public viewed the discovery of these animals. I know that paleontology was a fairly new science at the time, but there were some very signifigant dinosaur discoveries in North America as early as the 1820's. I'm sure that the discovery of such mammoth sized bones would have caused quite a stir with the public, as did Charles Darwin's "Origin of the Species." I would think that dinosaurs would have found there way into many conversations and debates. If anyone can give me any information regarding this issue, I would be very greatful.

Regards,
J. (Froggie) Hicks

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Civil War era Paleontology

Hallo!

For a quickie start, I would suggust searching for the so-called "Bone Wars" between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh beginning in Haddonfield, N.J. in 1868.

Also going back in time, some of Thomas Jefferson's writings as well as the "Big Bone Lick" colonial discoveries in Kentucky.

Curt