Guest Room Arthur Lakes Pictures

In 1877, Geologist Arthur Lakes made a truly monumental discovery. While hiking on the Dakota Hogback east of Morrison, Colorado, he stumbled across a large prehistoric bone bed. Working as an agent for Yale paleontologist O.C. Marsh, Lakes went on to unearth some of the most famous dinosaurs. He uncovered the remains of Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus on what is now known as Dinosaur Ridge. An amateur artist, Lakes went through great pains to record his various expeditions for Marsh. These reproductions of his watercolors are reprinted with permission from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut.

2015-04-03T18:43:29-06:00

Morrison, Colorado, circa 1877

Viewed from the Dakota Hogback just south of town, many of the buildings in this picture still stand today. The brick colored Late Coal Age sandstone dominating the background has another 70 years to be developed into Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Dinosaur Ridge comprises the cliffs visible in the right of the picture. The train, tracks and station in the middle of the picture are long gone. Bear Creek still meanders through town.