Our trip to the Dinosaur area left from the Trex Agate Shop the next day. David Trexler is the paleontologist that heads the one and two day field trips. Dan Minton is the historian for the fieldtrips and is very knowledgeable about the history and paleontology. Dave's wife Laurie helps and does much of the reconstruction. She discovered the original skull of the Maiasaura peeblesorum.

There were plant eaters and meat eaters. The plant eaters digested primarily foliage and pines. The carnivorous dinosaurs dined on the plant eaters and the eggs in the nesting areas. The Ornithischia were the "bird-hip" dinosaurs. They were the plant eaters and had blunt teeth. The Saurischians had a "reptile- hip" structure were meat eaters and had sharp teeth. The ones found in the area were Albertasaurs, Hadrossaurs, Ceratopsians, and a few more that I can't spell (Miasaurs??, Truadon??, Oradromian ??. Oh well, I guess I should have bought a book)

Finally we actually got to do a little collecting in several spots. Scientifically significant finds we were not allowed to collect. ( Gee I wonder why not? Ha, Ha! ) We were able to bring home some weathered pieces of bones and several small pieces of dinosaur egg shells. I even got a nice big chunk of petrified wood that Dan was nice enough to haul around for several hours for me. At one point he set it down and forgot it, but went back and found it again. At one spot, we had a little competition with some GIANT GRASSHOPPERS!! These things were almost 3 inches long and as thick as my thumb! They were so noisy that you could hardly hear for a while. But they didn't get our bones.

Pat, Ed, and myself found the three hours to go really fast and the whole experience very worthwhile. Pat mentioned that we should go back for the one or two day trip the next time.

We left Bynum and headed for the Old Trail Museum (1-406-466-5332) in Choteau. It is directed by Eva Luinstra. There are many fossil displays and the Hadrosaur display is particularly very impressive. The museum also houses historical displays from the area. This includes a sheleton of a man killed by arrows, which are still embedded in the bones. In the future they will be renovating the museum and expanding the Dinosaur exhibits.

The staff were so helpful and very informative. Judy Cassidy let me take pictures in the preparation area and explained what they do to assemble the pieces of fossils. She even re-arranged the tools so they could behind a hipbone section. The other was a part of a hip section. What was so unique about it was that the space in the middle had opalized. This is a rare occurrence in this location. We had a good talk and she showed me around the museum while Pat and Ed watched a video that they had about the Dinosaur sites. The museum offers Dinosaur bed tours and hands-on Paleontology classes. That's all for now- I've attached some of the pictures. Enjoy them..B.W.