Have you ever wondered why the large parking area northwest of the Morrison exit on I-70 is called the Wooly Mammoth lot? Aside from the odd spelling of “wooly,” the name commemorates the fossil remains of ancient elephants that have been found around Denver. For example, in downtown Golden a fossil mammoth skeleton was found in Clear Creek alluvium in 1908 during excavation for a sewer line.
Previously in 1872, Edward Berthoud found an “elephant” (mammoth) tusk in Clear Creek alluvium perched in a gravel deposit about 25 feet above the creek bed near Guy Gulch, 5 miles west of Golden. Sewer excavations in Denver uncovered other finds of camel, bison, and horse teeth and bones. During cold glacial-climate periods, mammoths and other large mammals roamed the landscape around Golden, a startling contrast to today’s fauna.
This was an excerpt from Golden Rocks: The Geology and Mining History of Golden, Colorado by Donna Anderson and Paul Haseman.
The authors have granted me permission to reprint excerpts, but I recommend that you read the whole book. You can buy a copy from the Lulu website, borrow one from the library (there’s a waiting list!), or read it online for free, courtesy of the School of Mines library.
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