The Past and The Curious: A History Podcast for Kids and Families
Bone Wars and The Ghost Town Rhyolite
Oct 30, 2024
Join Will Oldham, world-famous musician known as Bonnie Prince Billy, as he narrates the captivating tale of Rhyolite, a ghost town born from a gold rush in Death Valley. The story takes an intriguing turn with the Bone Wars, where paleontologists Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope engaged in a fierce rivalry ripe with sabotage and scandal. Discover how competition fueled groundbreaking discoveries yet left a trail of personal conflict, alongside the thrilling rise and fall of Rhyolite as a bustling mining town.
37:09
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Quick takeaways
- The Bone Wars exemplified how competition between paleontologists Othniel Charles Marsh and Edwin Drinker Cope led to both major discoveries and some notable professional misconduct.
- The rise and fall of Rhyolite as a gold rush boomtown underscores the transient nature of settlements, contrasting with the enduring history of the Timbisha Shoshone people in Death Valley.
Deep dives
The Bone Wars: A Rivalry Ignited
The fierce competition between paleontologists Edwin Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh marked the beginning of the Bone Wars in the late 19th century. Both men, passionate about uncovering dinosaur fossils, initially respected each other, sharing discoveries and even naming species after one another. However, the camaraderie quickly soured when Marsh secretly undermined Cope’s excavation efforts in New Jersey, leading to a bitter rivalry filled with deception and one-upmanship. This intense competition drove both men to make significant contributions to paleontology, but also fostered unprofessional conduct that included espionage and sabotage of each others’ work.
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