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A famed scientist planned and owned these attractive doorsteps.
The home belonged to the late president Edward Hitchock of
Amherst College. It is now owned by Professor Orton L. Clark
of the University of Massachusetts which is also in Amherst.
The late famed General George S. Patton, Jr., was a proud
owner and admirer of dinosaur tracks. His daughter wrote us,
"Daddy and Mother had always longed to have a set of
tracks... My father was very much interested in them and was
terribly pleased when he was home last summer to see them
in the library."
The world's oldest authenticated symbols of life on this
earth were made by dinosaurs well over a million years ago.
So completely rare were they until recently when an apparent
breeding ground or waterhole for these pre-historic monsters
was discovered, that geologists and other people traveled
thousands of miles to see treasured museum specimens of their
footprints.
In 1933, Carlton Nash, a young geologist, discovered a stony
ledge in South Hadley, Massachusetts, which contained "some
imprints" left by the ponderous prehistoric dinosaurs
that dominated life on this planet during this early geological
period. Seven years later, after completing further studies
in geology at Amherst College, he purchased the small area
containing his secret find.
Discover of this two-acre ledge established further imperishable
proof that dinosaurs once freely roamed this valley and of
Nature's great geological "embalming" process. The
mud, in which these prehistoric creatures once walked, first
became petrified because of its clayish-iron and cement-like
mixture, and later it was compressed by the great glacier
which covered the earth during the Ice Age. Then along came
volcanic actions and consequent earth's warpage which brought
the prints back to the surface where they were finally exposed
by erosion -- thereby completing the cycle Now we have valuable
and authenticated records, preserved in stone, to be passed
along to future generations.
They have become available for a slightly wider distribution
than in former years to those who appreciate something rare
and unusual in their home or garden. Naturally, the supply
is limited as "this model went out of production over
a million years ago."
Excavation and processing of these footprints is a tedious
task requiring the expertness of several skills, lest some
treasured relic be lost. But the modest prices are only commensurate
with a fair return of property investment and the "unorganized"
labors of a geologist. A small amount of capital invested
in dinosaur tracks will increase rapidly as their availability
decreases. Pride of ownership will be your annual dividends.
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