Guest speaker is Christopher Lintz on An Archeological Assessment of Cita Canyon Paleontological Site in Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

Following the Great Depression of 1929, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society secured WPA funds to excavate 15 vertebrate fossil bone bed sites dating 10 to 2 million years ago under the direction of C. S. Johnston. Mr. Johnston submitted a 187-page manuscript for his Ph.D. dissertation, but he died before defending his work, and his study was never published.

The presentation briefly discusses the geology and late Cenozoic Epoch environment and animals of the Texas panhandle to provide context for the Cita Canyon site fieldwork. Emphasis then shifts to discussing Mr. Johnston’s remarkable career, his involvement in securing WPA funds for the paleontological and archeological projects in the panhandle, and the politics leading to his death at the age of 40. The field methods employed during the WPA dig at the Cita Canyon site are reconstructed from available WPA photographs.

This event is FREE and open to the public. Doors open at 12:30 p.m., brief member meeting begins at 1:00 p.m. followed by the presentation.