Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Another remarkable place that preserves a much older chapter of Earth’s story is Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. Located in southern Idaho, along the Snake River Canyon near the small town of Hagerman, this landscape holds fossil deposits dating back 3 to 4 million years.
This region was once very different. Instead of the dry terrain seen today, the Snake River valley supported lakes and wetlands. These conditions attracted a variety of animals including mastodons, camels, saber-toothed cats, sloths and many species of birds and fish.
The most famous discovery at Hagerman is the Hagerman horse. This animal is considered one of the earliest members of the modern horse family. The site contains the largest concertation of fossil horses ever discovered in North America.
Recognizing the scientific importance of these discoveries, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument was established in 1988 with President Ronald Reagan signing the legislation.
The National Park Services preserves many layers of history. Some places tell the story of people, industry and communities, while others, reached deeper into the past.
Read More From Nancy
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
A few hours before we flew home from teaching in Oregon, we took a road trip to Fort Clatsop, part of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. What began as a simple side trip became one of those memorable moments where history suddenly feels very real. Standing at the place where the Lewis and Clark Expedition […]
Kenai Fjords National Park
Sweeping from a rugged coastline to glacier-crowned mountains, Kenai Fjords National Park encompasses more than 600,000 acres of wilderness on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. During our stay in Seward, we had the opportunity to experience this enormous landscape in two very different ways both from the water and from the land. Our first experience was a […]
Whitman Mission National Historic Site
I had known the story of Narcissa Whitman long before I visited this site. I remember reading about her to my daughters when they were growing up—the young missionary who crossed the continent with her husband, Marcus, in 1836 to establish a mission among the Cayuse people in what was the Oregon Country. Visiting Whitman […]
