The gilded dinosaur : the fossil war between E.D. Cope and O.C. Marsh and the rise of American science

432 Pages·2000·28.754 MB·English

by  Mark Jaffe

UNCORRECTED PROOF
Gilded
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THE FDSSIL WAR BETWEEN
CDPE AND MARSH AND THE
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RISE DF AMERICAN SCIENCE
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Gilded
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Also by MarkJaffe
And No Birds Sing
UNCO REG PROOF
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the Gil d d
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THE FDSSIL WAR BETWEEN
COPE AND MARSH AND THE
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RISE DF AMERICAN SCIENCE
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Crown Publishers New York
•
1
©
Copyright 2000 by MarkJaffe
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Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jaffe,Mark.
The gilded dinosaur : the fossil war between E.D. Cope —and O.C.
Marsh and the rise ofAmerican science / by MarkJaffe. 1st ed.
1. Cope,E. D. (Edward Drinker), 1840-1—897. 2. Marsh,Othniel
Charles.—1831-1899. —3. Paleontologists United S—tates Biogr—aphy.
4. Fossils West (U.S.) Collection and preservation History 19th
century. I. Title.
QE707.C63J34 1999
560'.978'09034—dc2 99-3851
ISBN 0-517-70760-8
1098765432
1
First Edition
My
For Mother
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2012
in
http://archive.org/details/gildeddinosaurOOmark
—
Acknowledgments
Writing this book has been a journey both across the American west and"
through American history. But whether on the road or locked deep in
some archive, I was fortunate to have some savvy and patient guides.
In Philadelphia, Carol Spawn at the Academy of Natural Sciences and
Roy Goodman and Scott DeHaven at the American Philosophical Society
were invaluable. In New York City, Barbara Mathe at the American
Museum ofNatural History was a great help. Barbara Narenda assisted me
in perusing the archives at Yale's Peabody Museum ofNatural History, and
Bruce Kirby guided me through the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Some wonderful archivists and librarians also opened the West for me
including Chelle Somsen at the South Dakota Historical Society, Daniel
Davis at the University ofWyoming American Heritage Center, William
Grace at the Kansas Historical Society, Barbara Day at the Colorado His-
torical Society, and Brian Shovers at the Montana Historical Society.
I also offer my special thanks to ThelmaJennings, who opened the Fort
Wallace Museum just for me on a blustery and snowy day, and Cecil
Sanderson, assistant superintendent at the Fort Bridger His—torical Site.
I also had the advice offour prominent paleontologi—sts Peter Dodson,
John Ostrom, David S. Berman, and Edward Deaschler who tried to pre-
vent me from making any mistakes in the science.
Robert Eveleth of the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral
Resources was a tremendous help in reconstructing the history ofWestern
mining, and Michael F. Kohl, head ofspecial collections at Clemson Uni-
versity, clued me in to some excellent Smithsonian sources.
A good part ofthe work on this book was done while I was Nieman Fel-
low at Harvard University,and I offer my deepest thanks to Bill Kovach,the
Nieman curator, for his support. Harvard historian Evertt Mendelsohn was
kind and patient in tutoring me in how a historian looks at science, and
Anne Bernays and Justin Kaplan pushed, probed, and guided me in my
word-smithing.
When I finally s—tarted pounding out pages, three of my Philadelphia
Inquirer colleagues Paul Nussbaum, John Fried, and Charles Layton
Ml
—
MARK
viii J A F F E
were good-hearted enough to read them and given me sharp, but compas-
sionate feedback.
David Black, my agent, was supportive from the first casual pitch ofthe
Cope and Marsh story to the finished manuscript. My thanks also to
Crown Publishing, especially to Karen Rinaldi, the first editor to support
this project, and to Robert Mecoy and Peter Fornatale for bringing the
book to fruition.
Finally, my deepest thanks and love to my first, best editor always, my
wife, Sandy. Her careful reading ofthe manuscript made my work better
as it always does.