Valley Girl Views: When A Mastodon Tusk Was Discovered Near Lewisburg, 1851

Mastodon Display at The State Museum in Harrisburg

On April 24 1851 - Thomas Howard dug up the bones of a mastodon in Kelly Township, Union County. The tusk was 10 feet long and 9 inches in diameter. although much of the tusk was broken, a large section was, as of 1871, on display in a cabinet at the University of Lewisburg (Today Bucknell).

[The tusk was likely part of the large collection destroyed in the 1932 fire at Old Main.]

Tusk of a Mastodon (In Kelly Twp)

"Prof. Anderson, of the University of Lewisburg, Union Co., Penn., under date of the 6th inst , gives an account of an interesting discovery. says :

I have before me a portion of the tusk of a mastodon found last week on a farm of Mr. Thomas Howard, three miles, west of this place, on the Buffalo Creek. I visited Mr. Howard yesterday and obtained from him an account of the manner of discovery, and brought back the most perfect fragment, which he has presented to the cabinet of the Society for Inquiry in the University.

It was discovered in digging a ditch in a meadow near the Buffalo Creek, In running the plow along the line of the ditch it struck the point of the tusk. Unfortunately it was supposed to be the root of a tree, and a part about two feet in length was shattered before its true character was suspected. It lay in a horizontal position, imbedded in blue clay resting upon limestone.

The whole tusk measured about nine or ten feet in length, and was very much curved, especially toward the point. It has now become impossible to give a drawing of it as I hoped to do. I found only three fragments remaining, each about two feet in length The most perfect portion was that which now lies before me. It commences about two feet from the larger end of the tusk.

About one foot of this is in a perfect state, presenting a round polished surface, 24 inches in circumference at the larger and 22 at the smaller end. It is somewhat curved, forming the arc of a circle whose radius is 26 inches.

The other fragments were falling rapidly to pieces, the laminin, especially of the larger end, separating at the slightest touch. 1 judge from appearances that the tusk was fractured previous to its discovery, though its exhumation threatens to hasten its destruction." - The Lancaster Examiner, 1851

"We learn from the Lewisburg (Union county) Chronicle, that, on Saturday last, the ivory tusk of a Mastodon was found in Kelly township, while digging a ditch. The tusk was ten feet long, moderately curved, nine inches in diameter at one end, and four inches at the other. It was found two feet below the surface, in a layer of blue clay, which rested on a bed of sand and gravel. A similar relic was found week before last on the farm of Mrs. Whitmore, in Tunkhannock Borough,- Wyoming county, while digging the North Branch Canal. It was about ten feet below the surface, in a strata of sand." - The Mountain Sentinal, Ebensburg, May 1851

"The mammoth has never been found living; it is thought they were overwhelmed by some sudden catastrophe during the long drifts of the glacial period." Many skeletons, or pieces of skeletons, have been found in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, "it would seem along the line of the terminal moraine". One possibility is that the Mastadon & Mammoths never roamed this area, but rather, their skeletons were brought here by glaciers. - Murray, L. W. (1908). A History of Old Tioga Point and Early Athens, Pennsylvania. A full skeleton of a mastadon was discovered in 1968, 100 miles directly east of Lewisburg. Researchers believe that mastadon became stuck in the peat bog, and died where he was found, contradicting other resarchers who believe that mastadons never roamed through Pennsylvania.

In 1968, a nearly complete skeleton of a mastodon was found in a peat bog in Marshalls Creek, Monroe County Pa. The skeleton is on display in the State Museum at Harrisburg. Marshalls Creek, near the Delaware Water Gap, is located 100 miles directly ) to the west of Lewisburg. (I80 runs in a nearly straight line between Lewisburg and the Marshalls Creek area of Monroe County) Researchers believe the mastodon became stuck in the peat bog and died there.

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Find More Stories & History Of Lewisburg Here:
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/08/lewisburg-pa.html

And More Stories & History From Surrounding Towns Here:
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/p/history.html

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"In 1852, the tusk of a mastodon was discovered in digging a cellar in Buffalo Valley near Lewisburgh, Union County. The tusk was ten feet long and in diameter ten inches. A fragment about sixteen inches long and ten inches in diameter is now preserved at the museum of the University of Lewisburgh. I did not learn that any other portions of the animal were discovered. Professor A. Winehell thinks it possible that the mastodon may have been exterminated by the ancestors of the present Indians." - History of that Part of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys by Hungerdord & Ellis, 1886