On December 23, 1953, two duck hunters spread their decoys along the banks of the Mississippi River at Choctaw Bar in Desha County, Arkansas. Whether or not the hunt for waterfowl was a success has been lost to history, but upon leaving, they literally stumbled across something which was to have far more lasting significance. Partially exposed in the sand and gravel was the huge jawbone of an extinct elephant. Chuck Thomas and Bob Fulmer of Greenville, Mississippi realized they had found something unusual and began to excavate it using the only tools at hand, their boat paddles. An identification was made. Pictures were taken. A story was written for the Delta Democrat Times. They called the Smithsonian to see “if they were millionaires,” but eventually this jawbone of a mastodon was donated to the Biology Department of then Delta State College.|
Fortunately someone had the foresight to thumbtack this label onto the wooden platform built to support the jawbone where it remained for 53 years.
Unfortunately both Mr. Thomas and Mr. Fulmer are deceased, but their surviving relatives were able to provide much of the information necessary for the research into the history of this find.
I first met this fossil in July, 2006, at the behest of Professor Nina Riding of now Delta State University. It was truly in dire need of restoration. Over 50 years of exposure without preservation had caused extensive deterioration of the bone matter. This fossil had incurred practically no mineralization during its time in the River, probably as a result of its recent erosion from the River bank somewhere upstream. Essentially it was still just bone, enamel and dentin, tens of thousands of years old, covered with a fine green dust which, despite appeals to several paleontologists, remains unidentified. The bone was crumbling to splinters at the touch, the remaining molar was fragmenting and detached, but at 26 inches long and weighing 33 pounds it was a truly impressive fossil which was well worth saving.