Although the thoughts expressed within are entirely the responsibility of the author, a plethora of people provided their time, knowledge and support in this effort to bring John Bell Hatcher’s tale back to life, and I am profoundly grateful for their patience and persistence.
From the start, constant support has been on offer from my steadfast literary representative Sam Fleishman of Literary Artists Representatives and my ever-encouraging editor Jessica Case at Pegasus Books. In addition, crucial aid was contributed by my relentless research assistant Ariel Revan.
In truth, there are several paleontological colleagues who know more about the animals and events inherent in Hatcher’s exploits than I. But fortunately, they most willingly lent their expertise to this endeavor.
Several colleagues at Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History passionately encouraged the undertaking of this project, including Timothy White and my esteemed classmate, Jacques Gauthier, both of whom endorsed my having access to the extensive resources related to Hatcher and Marsh in the Museum’s collections and archives. Barbara Narendra supplied expert guidance to the correspondence and other related documents, and Nathan Utrup kindly scanned Hatcher’s map of the Long Island Rhino Quarry. But beyond that, I owe a supreme debt of gratitude to Daniel Brinkman, who not only offered constant encouragement but also, in his review, a long series of selfless scientific and historical insights regarding both Hatcher, Marsh and their contemporaries, as well as the animals that they collected and researched. Erin Gredell also kindly gathered key images.
Matthew Lamana at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History graciously and enthusiastically granted permission to access the institution’s extensive paleontological archives, and Amy Henrici provided essential guidance to the materials therein, as well as a meticulous review of that portion of the manuscript dealing with Hatcher’s tenure at the Carnegie. They also provided invaluable assistance in gathering images, along with Kathleen Bodenlos, Kate Sallada, and Lauren Buches.
The numerous insightful comments and suggestions of Paul Brinkman at North Carolina State University greatly enhanced the credibility of the manuscript with a more comprehensive historical perspective regarding the paleontological personalities and perspectives of Hatcher’s time.
Colleagues at the American Museum of Natural History also played essential roles in the development of the project. Mick Ellison created the marvelous maps marking the dozens of localities where Hatcher and his crews collected in the American West and Patagonia. Mark Norell and Ruth O’Leary kindly extended permission to access the archival materials in the Division of Paleontology, and Susan Bell most patiently offered hours of guidance while I explored and documented essential correspondence. The characterizations of the mammals in the yearly faunal lists collected by Hatcher and his field crews benefited greatly from a thorough review by John Flynn. Gregory Raml and Kendra Meyer ably facilitated access to imagery in the Museum’s photographic archives.
Thomas Jorstad of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History kindly provided information about several key specimens collected by Hatcher, as well as supplying historical imagery of their material.
Another gorgeous image of one of the Cretaceous mammals that Hatcher discovered was graciously provided by my former mentor William Clemens and his photographer, David Strauss, of the University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley.
Timothy Rowe of the University of Texas at Austin considerately photographed the late Wann Langston’s spectacularly reconstructed skull of Deinosuchus.
The staff at Princeton’s Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library and the New-York Historical Society most politely granted permission to research pertinent correspondence and utilize archival imagery.
Likewise, Raimond Speeking graciously permitted the use of his photograph of the Diplodocus mount in the Museums für Naturkunde in Berlin.
Daniel Grenard thoughtfully shared his extensive knowledge regarding the development of the Marsh/Felch Quarry north of Cañon City, Colorado, and along with his associate Andrew Smith guided me on a most memorable tour of the seminal fossil sites in that area.
In addition, endless gratitude is due to Elizabeth Chapman, who most tolerantly abided the constant intrusions of Hatcher’s immortal influence as I struggled to comprehend the complexities of his legendary exploits and perplexing personality.
Finally, the most unexpected, yet exhilarating, aspect of this project was the opportunity to meet and correspond with some of John Bell Hatcher’s descendants, including Shelley Powsner and her family, as well as Norman and John Hatcher. All were spiritedly supportive of this endeavor and generously contributed priceless family insights, information and copies of their heirlooms. Thus, in the end, it seems most fitting to dedicate this study both to them and the other descendants of Anna Matilda and John Bell.