The Diaries of a Bonedigger: Harold Rollin Wanless in the White River Badlands of South Dakota, 1920-1922

This book provides 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. It is based on the original writings and photography of renowned geologist Harold Rollin Wanless and includes over 100 image plates. The diary was found, compiled, and edited by Drs. Harold Rogers Wanless and Emmett Evanoff and provides a broader perspective of Harold Rollin Wanlesss life and achievements. It also provides a stark contrast with how we travel, communicate, conduct research, and survive today, yet shows that human curiosity and kindnesses have not changed.

Format: Hardback
Length: 187 pages
Publication date: 01 April 2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

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 diarists 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 Wanlesss 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.

Weight: 613g
Dimension: 254 x 178 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031251177
Edition number: 1st ed. 2023