Markesan Woolly Mammoth
In May of 1989, Ed Westra of Markesan, unearthed the skeletal remains of a
woolly mammoth while digging an irrigation pond on his farm. Westra was
leveling off the dirt taken to create the pond when he thought he ran over some
stones. Upon closer inspection, he picked up what appeared to be a giant
tooth and some bones. The remains were full of clay, so he took them up to
the house to spray them off, still unsure as to what he had found since he
thought nothing
had teeth that big. The following week the family found a huge bone
that was two and a half feet by eight inches which ended up being part of the
shoulder area and also the whole bottom jaw bone. That is when they called
the University of Madison. Paleontologist John E. Dallman identified the
bones as the shoulder, tusk, tooth, and lower jaw of a woolly mammoth, a hairy
elephant like mammal. Woolly mammoth stood about 12 to 13 feet high and weighed
in at 16000 pounds. The Westras in all found both teeth (each weighing
over 5 pounds), parts of the lower jaw, a vertebra, the scapula or shoulder
blade, a forelimb, a rib, the sternum or breast bone, pieces of the tusk and
several miscellaneous bone bits. The woolly mammoth find is only the third such
find in the State of Wisconsin and could be the most well preserved. More
skeletal remains still lie about five to seven feet below the surface. The
family continues to wait for an offer to help offset the cost and trouble of
going without the irrigation pond and additional traffic on the farm from
researchers and reporters. The University of Wisconsin told the Westra's
at the time of the find that it only has funds available to pay the scientists.
Westra mammoth display case.
Westra mammoth press display.
Mammoth teeth and bottom jaw, also arrowheads,
some of which were also found on the farm.
Mammoth vertebra, scapula or shoulder blade,
forelimb, rib, and sternum or breast bone.
Pieces of mammoth tusk.
Ed Westra holds one of the mammoth teeth.
Ed, Diane, Mike, JoBeth and Kayla Westra in
front of the irrigation pond that produced the
woolly
mammoth in May of 1989.
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