HAS ANYONE SEEN THESE EXHIBITS RECENTLY ?
Trilobites are significant because they are the oldest animal life in this park of which any remains have been found.
On April 25, I was advised that the Trilobite project had been approved and I arrived on the South Rim on May 3, to supervise the work. In view of the fact that the C.C.C. Camp at Indian Gardens was being moved to the South Rim around the middle of May, there was little time for exploration work, and it was thought best to to develop the first exhibit near a known fossil locality.
The first quarry to be excavated is situated on the Tonto Trail about one-half mile from the Bright Angel trail and 4/10ths mile below Indian Gardens. A considerable number of Trilobite Specimens had already been collected from this locality.
The Location
General view north down the Bright Angel Trail showing Indian Gardens, front and center. The two white dots show the approximate positions of the Trilobite Trailside Exhibits on the Tonto Platform.
Trilobite Quarry Number One
This was the first quarry to be opened in our search for suitable specimens of Trilobites for preparation of a permanent exhibit.This location was selected because of its nearness to the known fossil locality on the Tonto Trail, about 1-mile below Indian Gardens. CCC labor was used and the boys rendered real assistance on the project.
The second photo, on the right, shows how it looks after opening the quarry to enable us to have a plane surface to work out the fossils in relief. Park Naturalist, Edwin Mckee, is show below, looking for fossils in the shale "tailings" pile beneath the excavation.
After digging here for several days without satisfactory results, this quarry was abandoned for what was hoped to be a more suitable location a few yards to the east.
Much material was collected for museum purposes, so that the work was valuable, although the results did not warrant the preparation of an exhibit.
