Recently I visited the Dinosaur National Monument in Jensen, Utah. It was discovered in August, 1909 after Earl Douglass, a paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, stumbled onto eight tail bones of an Apatosaurus sticking out of the rock.
This astounding ‘wall of bones’ is 40 feet tall and over 150 feet long. Over 1,500 fossils have been found in this quarry that was once much bigger, some of the bones have yet to be identified. 14 major species of dinosaurs have been found in this quarry; Barosaurus, Dryosaurus, Camarasaurus, Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Camptosaurus, Torvosaurus, Stegosaurus, Ceratosaurus, and Allosaurus. Including the dinosaurs, paleontologists have found many species of turtles, crocodiles, salamanders, lizards and many other small critters. Paleontologists have found 14 complete Camarasaurus skulls and two of them were left in the wall.
Paleontologists estimate ‘wall of bones’ we see on display today was about a third of what the wall of bones was when it was first discovered. The fossils unearthed there have been send to museums all over the US including Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, California, Nebraska, and Colorado. The dinosaurs were estimated to have drowned in a massive flood and carried to the end of a river mouth, covering the species in mud. Millions of years later the ground rose and created the mountains that the Monument is found in and created the signature ‘wall’ we see today.
It was so amazing getting to see and feel real dinosaur bones and I hope to attend again. I will always appreciate the paleontologists who decided to leave this beautiful monument together for us to see.
Photos from myself
Earth Before Us 
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