1918
- A number of valuable specimens of dinosaurs from the Red Deer River in Alberta were purchased.
The most important are a carnivorous dinosaur and a partial skeleton of a new horned dinosaur. Also
purchased was a skeleton of a Dimetrodon. The Cuban Expedition, by Barnum Brown. Banos de
Ciego Montero.is in a big bend of the Analla River, 26 km. NW of Cienfuegos and about 50 mi. W of the
Trinidad Mountains. There are 3 springs, all sulphurated. About 30 years ago the spring that is 94
degrees was cleaned, a cement bath made, and a house built over it, which was later burned down
during a revolution. Many bones were said to found during the cleaning, but none were preserved.
The present sanitorium was built over the spring that is 96 degrees. There is no record of bones being
found at this spring. The spring called Chapapote, is the warmest, 98 degrees and has the greatest
volume of water. It was worked by Brown in 1911. In Oct. 1917 Brown again visited Banos and arranged
terms with Dr. Alfonso Lay, owner of the property for resumption of work. Brown agreed to pipe the
water to the surface, so that it could later be used for a sanitorium. Dr. Lay agreed to give Brown full
rights to all material secured in the excavation and a reduced rate for accommodations at the hotel.
Brown secured a powerful pump, which was capable of delivering 400 gallons per minute. Brown
proposed to exhaust the water, clear the debris and cement a large drain pipe in sections over the vent and
pipe the water away from the area to be evacuated. Charles Falkenbach of the laboratory staff was to
be Brown's assistant. They sailed from New York Jan. 12th, arriving in Havana Jan. 16th. With various
delays, they were able to set up their equipment on Jan. 28th. As it was the season of the cane
harvest, labor was scarce and wages prohibitive, so they did all the work themselves. On pumping out
the water, they found that mud, slime and debris had again accumulated in the center, which
necessitated many days of careful bucket work in order to clear the opening. When they finally cleared
to the bed rock, they cemented a large pipe over the opening as planned, but soon found that the area
outside the enclosure was also fractured and that resistance to be over come by forcing the water up
through the pipe was sufficient to break through these fractures. They tried various things, but found it
was impossible to raise the water to the surface by its own force and at the same time remove any part of
the earth from the surrounding areas. They removed fossils down to the bedrock then cemented the
exposed rock. The accumulation of organic material in this spring includes bones, river shells,
crustaceans, wood, pine cones, nuts and leaves. Practically all bones are dissociated. There is
enormous number of individuals and a great variety of forms. By far the greatest number are edentates,
with turtles and alligators a little less common. Dr. Thomas Barbour visited them twice and took them to the
rich cave deposit that he worked at Soledad. Brown completed his work at Banos on June 1st and
shipped the collection in 16 boxes.
|
