Contents
[Part 1 Welcome to Agate Fossil Beds] 4 [Worlds of Past and Present] 7 [Part 2 A Landscape Rich With Life] 18 Text: James R. and Laurie J. Macdonald Illustrations: Jay H. Matternes [A Visit to the Past] 23 [The Mark of Death Upon the Land] 35 [The Geologic History of Agate] 47 [Ecology: Change and Adaptation] 53 [Part 3 Guide and Adviser] 74 [Contents for this section] 77
1 Welcome to Agate Fossil Beds
James H. Cook examines a fossil fragment at the quarries near Agate Springs Ranch about 1918.
Besides fossils, Cook also collected Indian artifacts and kept many of them on the walls of his study in the ranch house.
Worlds of Past and Present
Imagine that you are a healthy young man, raised conservatively in Michigan several years after the end of the Civil War. You are a skilled all-around hunter and trapper. The railroad has just spanned the continent, and stories of the West, its dangers, its people, and its opportunities come to you frequently. You and a friend decide you must see this land for yourself, and you save your money carefully against the day when you will be ready to go west. Around 1869, at age 12, that day comes.
At Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, you meet several cattlemen who tell you and your friend where to get work as cattle herders. Before many years have passed you have been a cowpuncher in Texas, you have fought Comanches, and you have bossed a ranch crew for a wealthy Englishman. You go on to fight the famous Apache Chieftain Geronimo as a scout with the U.S. Cavalry, and you befriend a famous Sioux chief, Red Cloud. You marry, buy a ranch in western Nebraska, and raise a family. And you become something of a legend in your own time, your ranch known for its hospitality to Indian, scientist, traveler—to one and all, rich or poor.