Gigantic mammoths once roamed the High Plains of North America, and at Hot Springs, South Dakota, their remains and those of other animals accumulated in a sinkhole formed when underground spring water dissolved limestone deposits and the land collapsed. The sinkhole filled with 95 degree water that attracted mammoths to drink or feed on vegetation, but once in the water they could not climb the slippery, steep incline, and most died of starvation or drowning. Remains found there also include the giant short-faced bear, extinct camel, gray wolf, raptor, cottontail rabbit, white-tailed jackrabbit, white-tailed prairie dog, fish, and other associated fauna. Over centuries the sinkhole gradually filled, and rain, snow, and wind wore away the soil, leaving a hill of buried skeletons that remained undisturbed until June 1974, when excavation for a housing project by Phil and Elenora Anderson revealed bones and tusks. In 1975, the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, South Dakota, Inc., was formed as a non-profit corporation to preserve the fossils and protect and develop the site as an in-situ exhibit where most excavated bones remain where they were found and visitors can witness the process of paleontology. In 1980, the Department of the Interior designated the Mammoth Site a Registered National Natural Landmark.

Photo: Barry Swackhamer

Photo: Barry Swackhamer

Photo: Barry Swackhamer

Photo: Barry Swackhamer

Hot Springs, South Dakota · USA