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A family’s passion for archeology creates an unusual fossil hunting business.
When Chuck Bonner was growing up in western Kansas, it wasn’t unusual to come home to find the family dinner table covered in Plesiosaur bones. His dad, Marion Bonner, owned the local movie theater in Leoti and was an avid fossil hunter who hunted with George F. Sternberg and other famous paleontologists.
Marion and his wife, Margaret, on weekends often packed the family of 10 (Chuck has three brothers and four sisters) into their 1949 Chevy Suburban and took them to the Niobrara chalk fields, 30 minutes from their home. Together the family uncovered a 22-foot marine reptile, Mosasaur, that hangs in the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, a 80 million-year-old shark that resides at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History and prehistoric fish, including a rare 14-foot Xiphactinus that swallowed a six-foot Gillicus on display at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Canada. Today, Bonner, a well-known muralist and artist, takes folks on fossil hunting expeditions. And the Suburban that carried tons of rare and unusual specimens for the Bonner family over the years is still kicking, serving as the official fossil hunting vehicle for his hunts, which uncover ancient fossils from the late Cretaceous period, some 87 to 65 million years ago. “When dad died, the only thing I wanted was that old Suburban,” Bonner says. “We call it Spiker. That was the name of the Leoti plumber we bought it from.” Bonner and his wife, photographer Barbara Shelton, also bought an old limestone church, abandoned since the 1950s, which sits smack dab in the middle of his beloved fossil hunting ground. Little by little, the ambitious couple converted the decrepit building into not only the headquarters for their fossil hunts, but into an art gallery and museum. Their artwork, as well as the work of their son, Logan, a game designer in Seattle, is prominently displayed in the Keystone Gallery. The entire complex, including their family home, is powered exclusively by solar and wind energy “We’re so off the grid that there isn’t even a grid out here,” Shelton says. At home where the buffalo roam
Millions of years ago, Kansas was a massive ocean teeming with 30-foot Mosasaurs with two-inch teeth and 20-foot sharks that could crunch clam shells like sunflower seeds. These giant monsters swam in the Kansas ocean next to giant squid, turtles, Plesiosaurs and ferocious, fang-bearing Xiphactinus. Most of the major natural history museums own specimens from the area. Professors from Yale came to dig as early as 1870 and claimed nearly 2,000 Mosasaurs for the university’s prestigious Peabody Museum. Bonner and Shelton have found 100 significant fossils, many of which now reside at universities and natural history museums around the world. They’re particularly proud of a four-foot skull of a Pteranodon, a flying reptile that was known to soar above the Kansas ocean hunting for prey. Bonner is often asked to lecture at places like Yale and the Cincinnati Science Center. His favorite place to “lecture,” however, is in the chalk beds themselves as he leads groups of fossil hunters out into the beautiful canyons that he has come to call “the Kansas Badlands.” Of course, to call his informative tours a lecture is a bit misleading. Bonner and Shelton are both laid-back, artistic and anything but stuffy. “People have no idea how beautiful it is out here. There are natural bridges, spires, cliffs and canyons. And the colors are probably the biggest surprise. People expect the chalk beds to be white. But we’ve got every color from rose and grey to orange, pink and blue. A typical reaction is ‘wow, this looks more like Arizona or New Mexico,’ ” Bonner says. Every hunt is different The colors of the chalk formations aren’t the only surprise. “You never know what you’re going to find,” he says. Maybe it’ll be a Mosasaur vertebrae or the backbone of a prehistoric fish. Perhaps you’ll find sharks’ teeth, coprolites, fish jaws, petrified wood or mineral specimens. If you happen to find something really rare and important, Bonner reserves the right to keep it for the gallery or for a museum. But never fear, every participant is guaranteed to go home with some ancient fossil from the late Cretaceous period. Bonner’s fossil hunts start early in the morning. In the summer, be prepared to show up as early as 7 a.m. After a few instructions, Bonner will load you and your fellow fossil hunters into Spiker and head out for the fields, usually private land where new and fascinating things are sure to be found. Lunch and snacks are provided in the $150 full day ($80 half day) fee. Where to stay and eat Motels and campgrounds, as well as several restaurants, are located in Oakley, the birthplace of Buffalo Bill. For a more rustic stay, Shelton and Bonner also own a little limestone cabin (it was once used as a poker cabin for early settlers) at nearby Lake Scott State Park that can be rented for $35 a night. There is no indoor plumbing. The state park has 55 campsites, some with electric and water hook-ups. Although he will take groups out fossil hunting most any time, he says the best months to go are April, May, June, September and October. “And as for the very best day, come after it rains. New fossils are always washed up after a hard, driving rain,” he says. Although Bonner could certainly be content to rest on his laurels (when he was a mere 16, he uncovered the largest Pteranodon skull ever found), he was quick to point out, “your best fossil is always the next one.” Pam Grout is a contributor from Lawrence, Kan. |
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Kansas town is a natural for history
By Deborah Reinhardt Palmer
Walk through life-size dioramas–some with animated models–about the late Cretaceous period, the end of dinosaurs. Learn more about the giant sea creatures that once called Kansas home. Children can explore the Discovery Room and see more models of these prehistoric fish. The museum is located at 600 Park St., off Interstate 70 at exit 159. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday (closed Monday) and from 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for children and seniors. Call (785) 628-3478 or visit www.fhsu.edu/sternberg for more information. The town’s Western history is celebrated during the Wild West Festival, July 4–8. Click on www.wildwestfestival.com for details. Or visit Historic Fort Hays, a military post dating to 1865. Celebrate July 4 with a picnic and band concert beginning at 5:45 p.m. |
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