Through the original writings and photography of renowned geologist Harold Rollin Wanless, this book paints a thorough and engaging picture of the White River Badlands' landscape, geology, biology, pioneer settlers, and how life was lived 100 years ago in a harsh, challenging, remote setting.
In the summer of 1920, Harold Rollin Wanless, fresh from an undergraduate geology degree at Princeton, spent the first of three summers in the Badlands of South Dakota camping, hiking, and collecting fossil vertebrate skulls. Harold produced a fascinating and thorough diary and report, illustrated with over 100 image plates, in which he explains the geology, biology, and climate of this famous area. Wanless became deeply involved with and vividly records the life, hopes, trials and character of the new homesteading pioneers of the area, and the people and livelihoods he encountered are reflected in the diary as well.
This is an engaging look at the history, environment, people and geological character of a unique portion of the American West. Combining a first-hand look at the White River Badlands and its people a century ago with the fossil history contained in its Cenozoic sediments gives a well-rounded historical presentation.
This diary was found, compiled, and edited by Drs. Harold Rogers Wanless (the diarist's son and an accomplished geologist himself) and Emmett Evanoff. In the introductory and concluding chapters of this book, they provide a broader perspective of Harold Rollin Wanless's life and his significant achievements beyond the Badlands venture described here. In addition, this narrative - written "only" a century ago - provides a stark contrast with how we travel, communicate, conduct research and survive today, yet shows that human curiosity and kindnesses have not changed.
About the Author: Harold Rogers Wanless has been at the University of Miami since 1971 in Marine Geology and Geophysics, Geological Sciences (Chair from 1998-2017), and most recently in the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development. His B.A. degree was in Geology at Princeton University, his Master's in Marine Geology at Miami, and his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University. He has focused on Modern to Cambrian sediments and sea level.
Emmett Evanoff has been at University of Northern Colorado since 2004 in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. He earned his B.S. degree in Geology at the University of Wyoming and his Master's and Ph.D degrees in Geology at the University of Colorado. His research has focused on sedimentology of volcanoclastic rocks including the White River Group of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. He has worked in the White River Badlands of South Dakota since 1997.
