Our Trip Out West

Every now and then, the opportunity arises to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip. This was one of those opportunities. After co-authoring our dinosaur book for children, Dinosaurs Unleashed, the editors of this magazine wanted to dig deeper into several of the intriguing facts regarding dinosaurs. So, we took a trip out West so that we could take a closer look in an area of the world where dinosaurs used to roam. In this issue of Discovery, we would like for you to see some of the evidence we saw that shows that dinosaurs and humans once lived together in the past. 

The Dinosaur National Monument fossil quarry (excavation site), located on the Colorado/ Utah border, was our first stop. This particular quarry is one of the largest fossil "storehouses" in the world, where over 1,600 fossilized dinosaur bones are buried. Built around the major rock face that contains the fossils is a small museum. The museum offers some interesting information about the early discovery of the monument in 1909. It also teaches the evolutionary theory that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago (as is the case with practically every federally funded dinosaur attraction that we saw).

One intriguing thing about the monument is the explanation that is given regarding the cause of this huge fossil graveyard. The wall opposite the rock face contains a large painted mural. This mural shows various dinosaurs wading through deep water. Under the mural, a sign reads: "After a seasonal flood: This scene of 145 million years ago is based on clues found in the rock face behind you. Carcasses brought downstream by the fast-moving, muddy water were washed onto a sandbar. Some were buried completely by tons of sand—their bones preserved in a nearly perfect state."

It is of special interest that such a huge fossil graveyard is said to have occurred because of a "seasonal flood." Further research has shown that many fossil finds are explained by referencing seasonal, regional, or flash floods. In November 1999, University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno uncovered a 65-feet-long dinosaur called Jabaria. This skeleton was almost 95% complete. The explanation for its burial? "It looks as though the dinosaurs may have been caught in an ancientflash floodand buried quickly." Robert Sanders, in an article describing a huge pterosaur graveyard, stated: "The fossil bones were found strewn throughout an ancient flood deposit in Chile's Atacama desert, suggesting that they were animals or corpses caught up in a floodperhaps 110 million years ago at the beginning of the Creta-ceous period."

On a BBC Website discussing its series, "Walk-ing With Dinosaurs," an article explains that much of the information for the first episode of "Walking With Dinosaurs" came from a fossil findcalled the Ghost Ranch, located near Abaquiu, New Mexico. The text describes this site as one of the richest fossil finds in the world. How does the article explain the fact that so many dino-saurs were buried suddenly? "Palaeontologists believe that the collection of fossils was the result of a mass death around a dwindling water resource during a drought. Before the bodies of the animals were eaten by scavengers, a flash floodburied them in muddy sediments where they were preserved."

How interesting to learn that evolutionists explain many of the largest dinosaur graveyards in the world as having been caused by a flood (though they are quick to include words such as seasonal, flash, or regional). Yet, after looking at several such explanations, it becomes apparent that if so many of these graveyards were caused by a huge flood, then the global Flood of Noah's day provides an excellent explanation for many of the dinosaur graveyards we find today.

After reading the multiple signs at the Dino-saur National Monument fossil quarry, taking numerous pictures, and asking various questions, we loaded up and began our five-hour drive down to Natural Bridges National Monument, where we were able to see one of the clearest dinosaur petroglyphs in the world.

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