In 1928, Elmer Cook, a rancher from Hagerman, Idaho, stumbled upon fossils eroding from the rock along the Snake River. He reported his remarkable discovery to the U.S. Geological Survey, which contacted the Smithsonian Institution. The result was a remarkable series of fossil expeditions between 1929 and 1934. The Hagerman digs revealed one of the richest known Pliocene fossil sites, dating back approximately 3 to 4 million years. The expeditions offered a rare glimpse into a world predating the Ice Age, as well as some of the earliest examples of…
