Discovering the Mastodon:
Part 4: Enter the Americans
The United States after
the Treaty of Paris, 1783.
British naturalists lost direct access to American fossils following the start of the Revolutionary War and most Americans were understandably preoccupied with the conflict. However, interest in the giant animal known either as the "American incognitum" or the "Mammoth" increased during the waning months of the war and into the first decades of the new nation. By the turn of the century, many Americans had embraced the idea that the imposing animal represented by these fossils served as a foil to European perceptions of American inferiority.
Several factors contributed to the change in importance of the "Mammoth". For instance, renewed expansion by American settlers into the Ohio River valley following the decline in British influence enhanced the fame of Big Bone Lick and the fossils therein. But rising interest may best be attributed to the activities of three men. The most famous is Thomas Jefferson, who's role in this story was spurred by a request from the French Delegation in Philadelphia to know more about his country and fueled by the offense he took to an influential theory by the leading naturalist of his day. The second is Charles Willson Peale, a Philadelphia painter dedicated to celebrating the glories of the new nation. The third, ironically, wasn't an American at all. In fact, he was a former enemy.
Peale's illustration of an
upper jaw fragment from
John Morgan's collection.
Christian Friedrich Michaelis was a German physician who had served with the British during the Revolutionary War. Michaelis was deeply interested in the "American incognitum" and familiar with the works of Daubenton, Collinson and Hunter. Following the British defeat at Yorktown (but before the formal cessation of hostilities in 1783) he befriended George Washington. The American general related a story of incognitum fossils recovered from a farm in the Hudson River Valley and assisted the German physician in finding more. The search in New York yielded nothing so Michaelis tried to visit Big Bone Lick, but he was frustrated in his attempt to reach the promising, but remote site. He then inquired about a collection of fossils owned by John Morgan, a physician living in Philadelphia.
John Morgan received the collection from his brother, who had accompanied William Croghan during the 1766 visit to Big Bone Lick. However, he wasn't particularly interested in the collection and it languished in relative obscurity for many years. In 1782 Michaelis tried to buy the collection but Morgan balked. He did, however, allow Michaelis to hire Charles Willson Peale, a leading Philadelphia painter, to illustrate the specimens. Peale moved the specimens to his studio and while the fossils were there, they were marveled at by several of Peale's associates (1). Michaelis would return to Europe with his illustrations (2) while Peale and many of countrymen were inspired to learn more about this animal.
Next: Part 5 - Jefferson's Notes
Print Resources:
- Cohen, C. 2002. The Fate of the Mammoth: Fossils, Myths and History. Translated by William Rodarmor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Originally published as Le Destin du Mammouth. 1994. Editions du Seuil.
- Richardson, E. P., B. Hindle, & L. B. Miller. 1982. Charles Willson Peale and his World. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York. 272 pp.
- Semonin, P. 2002. American Monster: How the nation's first prehistoric creature became a symbol of national identity. New York & London: New York University Press.
Notes:
- 1) Charles Willson Peale would later relate that his experiences while illustrating Morgan's fossils inspired him to found his American Museum. In particular, his brother-in-law would exclaim that he "would have gone 20 miles to behold such a collection". (See Peale's Museum.) [go back]
- 2) Christian Friedrich Michaelis published an article on the incognitum two years after he return from America. His copies of Peale's illustrations proved influential to other interested Europeans, including Petrus Camper and Georges Cuvier. (See Part 9 - Meanwhile, in Europe.) John Morgan ultimately sold his Big Bone Lick collection to Petrus Camper in 1788. [go back]