A Mammoth Discovery Near Fairmount: Custody Battle Ensues

Museum of Natural History, New York

In the summer of 1904, farmers working on their fields near Lake Galatia uncovered the almost intact skeleton of a mammoth, the remains of an Ice Age beast that grazed around present-day Lake Galatia 13,000 years ago, located about four miles West of Fairmount, close to State Road 26

The mammoth discovery became a magnet to area residents eager to view the skeleton of the once-mighty beast. The increase in farming in Grant County in the early 20th century had previously uncovered the occasional old bone but never a complete skeleton.

Viewers tramped to the scene, which resulted in a dispute between Stephen R Smith and CD Smith, the discoverers, and Mrs.Dora Gift, owner of the farm. The Smiths, being tenants of Gift, moved the bones to a woodshed and charged $ 0.10 admission to the public, which was said to number in the hundreds.

Mrs. Gift came forward to demand a share of the proceeds, as the deceased creature's remains were on her property. The Smiths maintained that they had rented the use of the ground and were, therefore, entitled to possession of the skeleton. The parties attempted to make a deal, but it was not to be

Mrs. Gift took the matter to court, filing a restraining order for the Smith brothers to cease and desist digging on her property and to share the proceeds of the ticket sale. The Smiths replied that Mrs. Gift was not entitled and referred to her as a "whack-up."

The Court ruled in favor of Dora. The Marion Chronicle of August 8th reports that Mr. and Mrs. James Gift met with a representative of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and arranged the sale of the late mammoth for a tidy sum of $1,000.00, equivalent to over $35,000 in today's value.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CmdT7TfSf/ Jonesboro Historical Society, Tz Jones

https://www.facebook.com/100064631051976/posts/historical-society-recalls-mammoth-findin-1904-a-discovery-was-made-in-grant-cou/919201691443403/ Grant County Historical Society

Google Earth

The Marion Chronicle (Marion, Indiana) · Fri, Jun 17, 1904, · Page 2 “Who is the Owner of the Bones of the Mammoth?”

The Marion Leader (Marion, Indiana) · Fri, May 20, 1904 · Page 8 “Big Bones Were Stolen”

Chronicle-Tribune (Marion, Indiana) · Fri, May 20, 1904 · Page 8 “More Bones More Money”