Fick Fossil & History Museum, Oakley, Kansas

Another one of our stops while in Oakley, Kansas was the Fick Fossil & History Museum. Mr. and Mrs. Ernest and Vi Fick were the founders of the Museum. The Fick's extensive collection of local fossils and artifacts formed the basis of the museum. They collected thousands of fossils and sharks' teeth in Logan County during the 1960s and 1970s. Vi Fick was also an artist who incorporated these finds into unique folk art pieces, some of which were featured in "Ripley's Believe it or Not!".

The museum opened in 1975 to house the collection which the Ficks had originally displayed in their home. The museum features not only their fossil collection, but also exhibits on local history, including a sod house replica, railroad artifacts, and a large collection of photographs. It is open year-round with varying hours depending on the season.

There are thousands of fossils and unique folk art of Vi and Earnest Fick. A Xiphactinus Audax, a 15 foot-long prehistoric fish found locally by renowned paleontologist George F. Sternberg. The story of the John German family massacre. It also houses a general store, a creamery and military display. A replica of Oakley's 1886 Union Pacific Railroad depot which burned in 1940. The Museum is home the oldest documented mosasaur skull in the world, a Tylosaurus Proriger, a 30-foot marine reptile found in the Horse Thief Canyon of Gove County. Donated by the Bird Family and prepared by Mike Everhart.

Xiphactinus audax (formerly known as Portheus molossus) 

"The bones of Plesiosaurs are by no means common and even so little as a paddle is rarely found. These bones are in a remarkable state of preservation. It is doubtful if another Plesiosaur paddle in which the bones were associated has ever been found in the Kansas chalk beds. Note the scars on the larger bone, (humerus) which were evidently made by one of the carnivorous Mosasaurs, a rare specimen." From the notes of G.F. Sternberg.

Plesiosaurs were marine in habit. There were two types of the Plesiosaurs, the long-neck and the short-neck. The slender neck of the long-neck was extremely flexible and was used to gather food. The head of the long-neck had a small skull with long interlocking teeth. The short-neck had a longer more slender skull with short, needlelike teeth. The short-neck was probably a very fast swimmer. Both types had large eyes and were probably day hunters.

Plesiosaurs

Wooly Mammoth

The remains of the Wooly Mammoth have been found in a state of excellent preservation in the frozen tundra of northern Siberia and Alaska. Their bones are commonly found in many parts of the United States, including Kansas (and Texas, home to the Waco Mammoth National Monument). Cave drawings of this animal indicate that these massive animals were known to prehistoric man. A large mammoth could reach 16 feet high at the shoulder, weigh nearly 8 tons, and have tusks as long as 11 feet.

Tylosaurus Proriger

Mosasaurs are extinct marine reptiles that lived approximately 100 to 64 million years ago. Their closest relatives are the Monitor lizards such as the Komodo Dragon. The first one to be discovered was found in a chalk quarry in Holland in 1770. Thus, the discovery and study of mosasaurs predated the discovery of dinosaurs by more than 50 years. Mosasaur fossils are found all over the world, but a large number of complete specimens have been found in the Smoky Hill Chalk and Pierre Shale members of the Niobrara Formation of Western Kansas.

The ancestors of mosasaurs were probably small lizards that lived near the seashore and foraged in the ocean in search of food like some modern species of iguanas do today. Sometime, probably near the end of the Jurassic period, they began to adapt to the marine environment in much the same manner that the ancestors of modern whales returned to the sea. Over the space of millions of years, their feet evolved into broad, flat flippers and their tails became broader and more powerful. Even though mosasaurs had large paddles, it is more likely that they used their strong, sinuous tails to propel themselves through the water.

Like whales, mosasaurs also had to surface periodically to breathe. Otherwise, they were superbly adapted to life in the ocean. By the time the Smoky Hill Chalk was deposited at the bottom of the Western Interior Sea, mosasaurs had evolved to be the dominant carnivores in most marine environments around the world. Although some other swimming reptiles, including the big plesiosaurs and marine crocodiles, were as large and certainly as dangerous as the mosasaurs, none were as successful or as wide spread. Mosasaurs fed on fish, squid, ammonites, birds, and even other mosasaurs.

For many years, paleontologists believed that mosasaurs laid eggs like other reptiles. It is, however, difficult to imagine a 30 or 40 foot mosasaur crawling up on a beach to lay eggs since they no longer had strong legs and would be relatively helpless out of water. They probably would have had other physical problems such as the overheating and difficulty in breathing that we observe in beached whales today.

The recent discovery in South Dakota of a mosasaur with the fossilized remains of two baby mosasaurs inside the body appears to support the idea that they gave birth to their young like the ichthyosaurs did. In addition, many fossils of small, immature mosasaurs have been found in the chalk. This shows that they were living in mid-ocean, hundreds of miles from land or sheltered areas, and seems to indicate that mosasaurs may have lived in groups and protected their young to some extent.

By the end of the Age of Dinosaurs, about 65 million years ago, some kinds of mosasaurs were as large as 45-50 feet in length while others, like Globidens, had developed specialized teeth for crushing clams or other hard shelled invertebrates. Mosasaurs appeared to have been as successful in ruling the ocean as dinosaurs were in ruling the land. Mosasaurs became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Era.

Platecarpus Coryphaeus (Mosasauridae)

This is a nearly complete skull of a mosasaur with lower jaws. The complete neck of 7 cervical vertebrae are present, also the first dorsal vertebra. The lower jaws are 21 inches long. When one looks at the skull it can be a bit confusing ~~ the skull has been crushed flat due to the great pressure it has undergone in all these years; it is lying on the roof of the mouth which is embedded in the plaster base. Only a few upper teeth in the left upper jaw or mandible are visible. This mosasaur is supposed to have been about 16 feet long.

Skull of a Tylosaurus, an extinct marine reptile, which was discovered on Hackberry Creek, Kansas. 

The nearly complete paddle of a Plesiosaur which was collected south of Oakley.

Two views of a large fish as it lay in the rock. It was discovered and collected by G.F. Sternberg. It was found near the pyramids, Gove County.

Xiphactinus Audax

This is the skull of a large fish with the right side exposed, the opposite side embedded in the plaster base on which it rests. The teeth are all present with the lower jaw closed. The skull bones and gills are also well preserved. The sclerotic ring of the orbit is in place. Two vertebras are present and pectoral fins are present although not in place. This is a very fine skull of a large Cretaceous fish. If complete, it would have reached a length of 12 feet. All of the fossils found in these beds are crushed quite flat and the lower jaws are pressed tight.

The largest of all bony fish, the Xiphactinus Audax was not uncommon in the Cretaceous ocean and reached upwards of 16 feet in length. They were very similar to modern day Tarpon, being covered with scales and having a broad expanded tail. It is thought that from the size of the jaws and the array of teeth, that they rivaled the smaller mosasaurs in strength, and possibly larger mosasaurs.

Mastodon tusk

Prehistoric Mastodons of America once roamed over all of North America.

This animal was an ancient relative of present day elephants. It resembled the elephant but was smaller, had a furry coat and its teeth were different. There were about 100 different kinds of mastodons. They are now extinct.

Steamer Trunk

The wardrobe or steamer trunk was used exclusively for travel by steamship in the early 1900s. It was sometimes made with a domed top for ease in keeping it upright. It was quite an efficient trunk with its ingenious built-in drawers and cubbyholes. It held an unbelievable amount of clothing which added to its already immense weight. The trunk had never been a favorite with baggage-men.

Ogden Standard Examiner - Golden Spike Edition

Telegraph Insulators

Insulators were first used extensively in the mid-1840s with the invention of the telegraph. They were necessary to prevent the electrical current passing through the wire from grounding out on the pole and making the line become unusable. The design, which looks much like a bureau knob one might still find on antique furniture today, is mounted on a wood or metal pin. From this evolved the Pin Style Insulator, which had no threading inside the pinhole. It was cemented to the pin by driving it down on the pin and an asphalted rag with a mallet. This was not perfect because the weather would wear the rag and eventually the insulator would work loose and pop off the pink, allowing the wire to contact a grounding surface. Inevitably, as telegraph lines traced the westward expansion of railroad lines across states, glass manufacturers began to create many new designs in an effort to secure a niche in the then rapidly growing insulator market.

Don't Spit on the Sidewalk ~~ bricks control lung disease in Kansas. Dr. Samuel J. Crumbine arrived in Dodge City, Kansas in 1880. In the late 1880s thousands of people from east of the Mississippi River were rushing across Kansas trying to reach Colorado's mountains and pure air; trying to find the cure for tuberculosis. Each carried what he or she believed was the best medicine available -- a bottle of rock and rye.

On a train ride from Dodge City to Kansas City, Dr. Crumbine watched tuberculosis victims coughing and expectorating on the floor of the railroad car and sharing a community drinking glass. Dr. Crumbine suddenly realized he was watching the spread of tuberculosis by people who were sick with the disease. He confiscated the glass, had it analyzed and found it contained a very high bacteria count.

He approached the railroad owners and asked them to remove the drinking glasses from the railroad cars, but was met with much resistance. He suggested the use of paper cups to sell for a penny each; the idea was scoffed at and rejected.

Dr. Crumbine went to every brick manufacturer in Topeka and asked him to imprint the works "Don't Spit on the Sidewalks" on bricks to be used to build sidewalks and streets. With reluctance, the manufacturer agreed to imprint every fourth brick with the slogan.

He then went to the State Legislature asking them to pass a law forbidding spitting except in cuspidors and outlawing community drinking vessels. It took two years to convince them, and in 1909 the Legislature passed the Compulsory Notification Law. In 1911, the Legislature furnished funds for a state tuberculosis sanitarium. Before many years had passed, other states began to observe the drop in number of cases of tuberculosis in Kansas and began following Kansas' preventive measures. Tuberculosis was slowly brought under control throughout the country. 

Five years later Tuberculosis and Health Associations asked anyone in the state of Kansas who could find one of Dr. Crumbine's "Health Brick" to send it to them. Every county in the state was able to respond.

Chandler Price Printing Press c. 1887

Farm Wagon

Grindstone

A grindstone is a round sharpening stone used for grinding or sharpening iron tools. Grindstones are usually made from sandstone. Grindstone machines usually have pedals for speeding up and slowing down the stone to control the sharpening process.

Bronco Buster

Swedish Chest 

This chest was brought from Sweden by Justus & Maria Peterson in 1880 and to Logan County in 1897.

In observance of our Nation's Bicentennial Observance, this sod house was constructed on May 7-8, 1975, with the help of FFA students of Unified School #274, Oakley, and others. A sod cutter was used on the neighboring block where construction of the new Logan County Hospital - Fritz Hanson Memorial Home was begun the following week. The buffalo sod was hauled to the museum and the house built as a reminder to our visitors of the type of home lived in by those homesteaded in the 1880s.

Logan County & Area Settlers ~~ The Civil War emphasized the need of railroads to bind the east with the Pacific Coast. The Homestead Act of 1862 threw open public lands to settlement in 160 acre units, by adult citizens and by aliens who had declared their intention of becoming citizens.

A homesteader had to live on the land for five years to acquire title or he or she could shorten the residence requirement to 14 months by paying $1.25 per acre. Civil War veterans were allowed to deduct the term of their military service from the five year clause.

Many settlers came to this area by team and wagon. Some walked from Iowa and Missouri. Others came by immigrant train. Many nationalities were among the first settlers: African American, Swedish, Norwegian, German-Russian, Canadian and German. 

Their first homes were dugouts on creek banks, sod homes, native rock homes and in some instances, frame homes. Many homesteaders simply turned their wagons upside down and lived there until they could build a home. 

Also in 1862 the federal government authorized building the Union Pacific Railroad. In Kansas, the first land grant railroad to be built was the Kansas Pacific. It obtained a grant of 6,000,000 acres in a strip 20 miles wide west of Salina. The railroad received every other section of land in the strip.

The Old Soddy

Septarian Concretion

What is a Septarian Concretion? A septarian concretion, also known as a septarian nodule, is a type of sedimentary concretion characterized by a distinctive network of cracks that radiate from the center, often resembling a turtle shell. These cracks are typically filled with minerals like calcite or aragonite, creating a striking contrast with the surrounding rock.

Kimball Pump Organ & Stool

Don Hall's Advertising Pencil & Pen Collection

Don Hall was born June 7, 1900 in Sedgwick County, Kansas. He moved with his father, mother and twin brother to Oakley in 1905. Don was a mortician in Oakley for many years. Over half his lifetime he collected pens and pencils that were given away freely as a form of advertising. His son stated that they are from all over the country from family vacations as well as annual mortician conferences he attended. 

1956 Ford V8 F750 All Original 8216 Miles

Tea Pot Collection

The Monument Rocks -- A Real Life Jurasic Park

This last section is about Monument Valley. We were thinking of driving down to see it, but it was 25 miles south of Oakley, so we opted not to go. I do have some pictures of the area and information about it. Monument Valley is where many of the fossils in the museum were discovered. It is considered One of the Eight Wonders of Kansas.

Excursionists at the base of the Southern group of pyramids, or Monument Rocks. Hundreds of cars wend their way to this wonderful group of rocks.

The Human Face, or Big Chief Smoky, the most northerly rock of the group of pyramids. A good road passes around it.

G.F. Sternberg searching for fossils among the Chalk bluffs known as Jerusalem. 

Such exposures as this are to be found all through the Chalk Bluffs, or Jerusalem, which lay just south of the Smoky Hill River some 27 miles southwest of Oakley.

Charles Sternberg

Over 100 million years ago, during the Cretaceous era, Kansas was covered by a vast ocean. Dramatic natural features, such as the Monument Rocks, are remains of that ancient seabed.

Since the 1870s, fossil hunters have searched the chalk beds and limestone hillsides of the Smoky Hill River region for the remains of ancient creatures. They have made some of the most significant discoveries in North American paleontology. Among the most astonishing finds were flying reptiles with a 30-foot wingspan known as pteranodons. They surprised scientists because, unlike other flying reptiles, their beaks and hollow bones seemed to make them the ancestors of birds.

The first scientific explorers in Kansas were looking for dinosaurs. Paleontologists and bone hunters competed with each other to discover new types of fossils. The competition between two of them -- Professor Edwin D. Cope (1840-1897) of Harvard and Professor Othniel C. Marsh (1831-1899) of Yale -- was so fierce that their rivalry in the 1870s and 1880s was called "the Bone Wars."

The army often provided escorts for these scientists. Buffalo Bill once guided Othniel Marsh on an expedition through western Nebraska. Like other frontiersmen, Cody even made extra money by finding fossils and shipping them to museums back east.

Fossils excavated by Charles Sternberg and his sons are part of major museum collections throughout the United States and Europe, including the Fick Fossil & History Museum in Oakley and the Sternberg Museum in Hays.