The Painted West showcases stunning art and photography that capture the essence of the West. Explore the works of talented artists and photographers.
Reading the Wall of Bones at Carnegie Quarry I. Discovery: The Man Who Followed the Bones On a bright August morning in 1909, a Carnegie Museum paleontologist named Earl Douglass crouched beside a sandstone ledge in the dry hills of northeastern Utah and traced his fingers along eight enormous vertebrae protruding from the rock. They…
Dive into the fascinating world of fossils and geology in The Ancient West. Discover the stories behind our planet’s history.
When you drive down Interstate 84 today, the towering red sandstone of Echo Canyon and the tight, gray quartzite choke-points of Weber Canyon offer a spectacular scenic drive. But in the winter of 1868 and the spring of 1869, this same geography was the Union Pacific Railroad’s worst nightmare. As the race to complete the…
Journey through the history of steam and rail in The Iron West. Explore the innovations that shaped transportation.
An Elevation-Driven Ecosystem What makes the Paunsaugunt ecosystem special is that it functions as a “sky island.” Because the plateau rises between 7,000 and over 9,000 feet above sea level, it captures significantly more precipitation (primarily snow) and maintains much cooler temperatures than the arid valleys surrounding it. This dramatic change in elevation creates distinct,…
The region around Grand Junction and Fruita is known for its stunning high deserts and deep canyons, but at the turn of the 20th century, the landscape earned its moniker in more ways than one. This area, known locally as the Western Slope, became the staging ground for a fierce, grueling paleontological gold rush. Rival…