Rocky’s Web

Egg Mountain

Dinosaurs are one of the last things that I ever thought I would be doing any research on. I had no interest in the movie Jurassic Park, so have never seen it. I will admit that I have seen some of the plastic toys at stores and have told a kid or two that they were cool. Usually they would start telling me all about them with their mile long names, and I just stood there in amazement.  The only thing of the prehistoric era that I ever did any research on was the eohippus, because it was part of the evolution of the horse.  Part of my single mindedness as a horse lover and most of my school projects revolved around them.

Why now? On our way through Montana, we went past a historic roadside marker that mentioned Egg Mountain, and we stopped and read most of the ones we passed. It probably would have just been considered another marker, except that we had the opportunity to visit with the husband of the woman, who found the fossil.  I know that Rocky has mentioned it in his blog, but thought that you might like to know more.  I have to admit the more reading I did, the more interested I became.  Not that I will be able to pronounce the name or see myself out on any digs. Have some information for those of you who may be interested.

Egg Mountain itself is located about 12 miles west of Choteau, MT on Highway 287, and the sign with information on the site is located between mile markers 57-58.  It is one of the 16 sites in Montana that has been recognized for its geological wonders. There is even The Montana Dinosaur trail that runs though the state.  This site is preserved by the Montana Nature Conservancy.

Here is a little history of the area. In 1978, rock shop owner Marion Brandvold , discovered some small bones in what was later named Egg Mountain.  Two Montana paleontologists by the names of Jack Horner, and Bob Makela came out to see where the bones were found.  Exploring this area, researchers gathered more information not found on any other world digs about the Cretaceous era.  The area was filled with fossilized eggs, babies and adults.  Horner discovered a nest containing fossils of these duckbilled dinosaurs. This new dinosaur was named Maiasura, meaning good mother lizard. Studies on the area showed that these huge prehistoric creatures took care of their young much like our present day birds do. The nests were round, evenly spaced, about 6-7 feet wide and could hold around 25 eggs. Once the babies were hatched were said to weigh as much as a phone book, ( you will have to figure out which city or state, because I have seen both thin or fat ones, so I say average them) and a foot long. Those that managed to reach adulthood were 6,000 lbs and about 30 feet long.  The way the nests were placed, it was thought to be a colony, so they returned to the same spot every year.  It is believed that the mothers went to hunt and brought it back to the nesting area. The spacing of the nests, allowed enough room for the mothers to lie down and watch over their young. This shows evidence that parental care existed back 76 million years ago. The extinction of the Maiasura  is thought to have come about because of  an extreme event that took place in nature, possibly a volcanic eruption or hurricane. That one puzzled me, because hurricanes are storms coming off the water.  The Rocky Mountains having just started their formation were located about 300 miles from a shallow ocean on the eastern side.   There was also the Troodan, a little meat eating dinosaur that lived in the Rocky Mountains, nesting in the areas of lakes, streams, and the fern covered coastal plains.

Bet you can guess that the Montana’s state fossil is the Maiasura . I can’t tell you what New York’s is, but might look that up in case I end up being a game show contestant.

There are 2 places that are close to the sight, all within a 40 mile radius: The Old Trail Museum, which is located in Choteau on Highway 89—823 North Main Street. 

The second one is the Two Medicine Dinosaur Center on Highway 89 in Bynum. It is located right next to the Rock Shop, where we met John, who is Marion’s husband.

Both places offer you a chance to learn more about dinosaurs, and a chance to do a little digging in the area. There was a school group that had gone off for a dig from the Center the day we were there.  I did spend some time in the rock shop, where they had beautiful Indian jewelry and rocks. I didn’t leave empty handed, bought 3 pieces of jewelry, 4 small rock animals, and 2 rock power bracelets, that are suppose to help your health because of the stones used. At $3/each, and even if it is a myth, and more related to the power of positive thinking, it is cheap enough medicine. The rock animals were a cow, and buffalo, which relate to my thing about cows and chasing the painted buffalo around West Yellowstone, a grey horse, Soldier, and a cat. My daughter tells me she is going to be the crazy cat lady. It will remind her of the summer that her mother ran away to chase dreams. The jewelry was a couple pair of earrings, one of a buffalo, and the other wolves, true reminders of the west. The necklace was the End of the Trail I gave away to a friend, who had made a comment earlier in the summer about liking a print with that on it.  I was good and kept my shopping to a minimum.

There were also a couple of good eating places in the Choteau, which is a town that gives you a real homey feeling. I liked everyone I met there. It has almost everything that you would need, except cell phone reception. The first place was the Log Cabin, and it was log. It is a real popular eating place, reasonable prices and good food. John’s daughter in law from the Rock Shop makes the soup there. It is right in the center of town. The second place was the Elkhorn Grill on Route 89 it was decorated with a lot of elk horns on the inside with almost everything made out of them from candle holders to lamps. The waitress that we had was very personable, and enjoyed talking and joking with her. I just feel bad, I wasn’t a kid, because then I could have had Harley, the stuffed moose come eat at the table with me. He was cute. I teased Paul about it the older couples were getting a kick out of it. Paul didn’t see the humor in it.  Well, hey if you don’t have fun and act like a kid once in awhile, you age quickly. That is my philosophy, so maybe that explains my flakey way of thinking at times.  My lifestyle is far from that of the Rich and Famous, but I am happy and that is all that counts.

You can find out more about Egg Mountain and the Dinosaur Trail using Google or whatever search engine you choose.

Well hope you enjoyed your trip back 76 Million years in history. Me, you know that I would rather be riding horses, our playing pioneer woman than digging up bones of prehistoric creatures,  learning new things never hurts. So the next time a kid talks about dinosaurs I can tell them about Egg Mountain in Montana.  Take care!

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