1. Hamilton, Wentworth County.—On Burlington Heights, near Hamilton, many years ago antlers of the elk were found associated with a jaw of a beaver. They were discovered 30 feet from the surface and at a level 7 feet higher than the jaw of Elephas columbi described on page 147. The age of all these bones is late Pleistocene. The elk had, therefore, spread over the northern part of our country before the close of the Wisconsin stage.
The geology of this locality and the species found there are considered on pages 284–285.
2. Near Strathroy, Middlesex County.—In 1901 (Ottawa Naturalist, vol. XV, pp. 95–97, fig.) L. H. Smith wrote on the occurrence of the elk in Ontario. None had been known to exist there since the settlement by white men. The writer of the article had a number of specimens of antlers collected in the neighborhood of Strathroy and the neighboring county, Lambton. A fine pair of antlers and a part of a skeleton of an elk had been discovered in a boggy spring in lot 15, 12th concession, township of Lobo. It was evidently not deeply buried. This and the others, notwithstanding shallowness of burial, may have been buried in Late Pleistocene times; but there is no assurance that they did not live during the early Recent.
3. Kingston, Frontenac County.—In 1898 (Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. IX, p. 377), Robert Bell stated that remains of the elk had been found in shell marl in at least two places near Kingston.
1. Grand Isle, Champlain Lake.—In 1840 (Rep. on Quadrupeds, Massachusetts, p. 82), Emmons reported the finding of an antler on this island, which he concluded belonged possibly to a young elk. It had been thrown out by the plow from an elevated piece of ground, near a spring of water. He concluded that it was the antler of the second year, and stated that it had no branches. It was somewhat curved and had a total length of 849 mm. The diameter just above the burr was given as 183 mm.; but this is much greater than that in any specimens of young elks at hand. Possibly some other species is represented and it may not have belonged to Pleistocene.
1. Racket River, St. Lawrence County.—J. E. De Kay, in 1842 (Zool. N. Y., Mamm., p. 120, plate XXIX, fig. 1), described a part of a skull, to which were attached the damaged antlers of an elk, which had been dug up near the mouth of Raquette River. This must have been not far from the town of Racket River. Nothing appears to be known regarding the conditions under which the skull was found. Leidy (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., vol. VII, 1869, p. 377) refers to the specimen. It was at one time in the Lyceum of Natural History, New York, but is probably no longer in existence.
2. Seneca Castle, Ontario County.—Mr. E. Hitchcock (Science, vol. VI, 1885, p. 450) reported the finding of an antler of an elk at this place. It was associated with supposed remains of a mastodon, in a peat morass, near Flint Creek. It is to be credited to the Late Wisconsin.
3. Farmington, Ontario County.—James Hall, in 1887 (6th Ann. Rep. State Geologist, New York, p. 391), reported the discovery of about two-thirds of the skeleton of an elk at the place named, in a cedar swamp, buried in peat at depths of from 6 to 18 inches. The antlers had projected above the surface and had been gnawed by rodents. Hall remarked that the elk had not been known to live in that region since the coming of the white race. The skeleton may or may not have been deposited there during the late Pleistocene.
4. Livingston County.—In the collection at Princeton University is a calvarium of an elk labeled as found in Livingston County. The finder had, with a tool, chopped off the antlers and otherwise hacked the skull. One can not be certain as to the geological age of the specimen.
5. Cuba, Allegany County.—In 1843, James Hall (Geol. 4th Dist., p. 367) reported that several horns of deer and one of an elk had been found at the summit of the Genesee Valley Canal. The place given was New Hudson, 4 miles from Cuba; but this town is about 10 miles from Cuba and apparently not on the canal. The antlers were found at a depth of 12 feet, in muck.
6. Jamestown, Chautauqua County.—Hall (op. cit., p. 365) stated that Dr. Emmons had in his possession a tooth which he regarded as belonging to this species. De Kay (Zool. N. Y., Mamm., p. 120, plate XXIX, fig. 4) describes and figures this tooth. Emmons, in 1840 (Rep. Quadrupeds of Massachusetts, p. 82), first mentioned the tooth and said it had been found in a clay bed with several others. The tooth may belong to the Pleistocene, but this can not be proved. It is of value, as are the other cases, as showing the former distribution of the species.
7. Boonville, Oneida County.—In 1884 (Trans. Linn. Soc. N. Y., vol. II, p. 46), Dr. C. Hart Merriam reported that Mr. Calvin V. Graves, of Boonville, had parts of elk horns, plowed up in an old beaver meadow. These may have belonged to very late Pleistocene time or to any part of the Recent.
8. Third Lake of Fulton Chain, Herkimer County.—In the publication just referred to and on page 45, Merriam stated he had seen a number of elk antlers, found in a bog near the place mentioned. Their geological age can not be determined any more closely than in the preceding case.
9. Steele’s Corners, St. Lawrence County.—On page 46 of the paper just cited, Merriam reported that Dr. C. C. Benton, of Ogdensburg, had parts of antlers discovered at the place named. No details as to mode of occurrence were given. The antlers were discarded by their owners some time after the clearing away of the Wisconsin drift.
1. Deal, Monmouth County.—In 1869 (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. VII, p. 377), Leidy stated that there were in the museum of the Philadelphia Academy portions of two antlers of the elk obtained in the earth just above the Cretaceous greensand near Deal. No further information was furnished. Deal is about 5 miles south of Long Branch. The antlers may have belonged to the Pleistocene or to the Recent.
2. Trenton, Mercer County.—In 1911 (Papers Peabody Mus., vol. V, p. 123), Mr. Ernest Volk detailed the finding of a fragment of an antler of an elk in the glacial gravels at Trenton, at a depth of 5.5 feet. For the geology of this locality see page 304.
Cope (Cook’s Geol. N. J., 1868, p. 742) wrote that this species has left antlers and bones in various parts of the State in the gravel drift, but he mentions no localities.
1. Stroudsburg, Monroe County.—In 1899 (Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv., Pennsylvania, for 1887, p. 6), Leidy reported the discovery of various fragmentary remains of this species in the Crystal Hill (Hartman’s) Cave, near Stroudsburg. This cave and its contents will be considered on page 310.
2. Riegelsville, Bucks County.—From Durham Cave, situated near Riegelsville, there was sent to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, about 70 years ago, a collection of bones. They were examined by Leidy, who reported on them (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1880, p. 349). In this list the elk was not mentioned. In 1889 (Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania, 1887, pp. 18, 19), further attention was given to the collection, and the elk was included. The bison, which was mentioned in the first list, was omitted in the second.
1. Adrian, Lenawee County.—In 1880, Professor J. Kost, of Adrian College, sent to the U. S. National Museum a skull of Castoroides ohioensis and a jaw of a mastodon found in a marsh in the town of Adrian, at a depth of 4 feet. At the same place another mastodon, together with bones of a deer and of an elk, had previously been secured. These belong to a late period in the Wisconsin.
2. Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County.—In 1908 (Folio 155, U. S. Geol. Surv., p. 9), Russell and Leverett told of the finding of bones of elk and deer in a peat-swamp, 3 miles south of Ann Arbor. In the same swamp, at a depth of 5 feet, a skull of Castoroides ohioensis had been discovered. The bones of the elk and deer were at a somewhat higher level. While they are probably of late Pleistocene age, one can not be wholly sure of it.
1. Cambridge City, Wayne County.—In the collection of Earlham College, at Richmond, Indiana, is a part of the skull of an elk (No. 5070) labeled as found a mile northwest of Cambridge City, and as presented by Lee Ault, superintendent [of schools?]. It is recorded on the specimen that it was found in Little Simond’s Creek and lay partly exposed in a bed of gravel 4 rods below the mill-dam, and 0.25 mile from where the creek empties into the West Fork of Whitewater River. The specimen is pretty thoroughly mineralized and stained with iron oxide. The geological age of the skull is uncertain, but it has the appearance of being old. Found in that region, it must, however, be younger than the Shelbyville and Bloomington moraines, which are nearby.
2. Fountain City, Wayne County.—In Earlham College is the rear of the skull of an elk recorded as found on Nolan’s Fork, near the border of the Bloomington moraine. It has the No. 5069 and is credited to Mr. Isaac Thomas. The remark made in the preceding paragraph about the age of the specimen from Cambridge City may be repeated here.
3. Harrisville, Randolph County.—In the collection at Earlham College, Richmond, are some bones which belong to Cervus canadensis and reported found in May 1893, by Messrs. Shoemaker, Graves, and Moore, in a ditch or canal being put through the swamp known then by the name of “The Dismal,” apparently about 6 miles east of Winchester, near the town of Harrisville. It was here that was found the fine specimen of Castoroides ohioensis which is at Earlham. Just at what depth the elk bones were found is not known. With them came some bones of the white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus. Of the elk there are a dorsal and two lumbar vertebræ, most of the sacrum, some pieces of ribs, the articular end of the scapula, a complete humerus, most of the right side of the pelvis, most of the left pubis, the left cubo-navicular bone, the distal end of the left cannon-bone, and three phalanges.
We can not be certain that the animal lived at that place during Pleistocene times. At most, it lived after the Wisconsin ice had withdrawn from that vicinity. Dr. A. J. Phinney (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XXI, p. 181) stated that in draining swamps in this county elks’ antlers had been found, but no details were given. At any rate, in that region all such remains would belong to a time following the middle of the Wisconsin stage.
4. Pennville, Jay County.—McCaslin, in his report on the geology of Jay County (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XII, p. 169), stated that the bones of the mastodon and post-glacial deer, or elk, had been frequently met with. “The gigantic antlers of the latter have been found in size indicating an animal 8 or 9 feet high and 10 or 11 in length. These have been picked up in a bog north of Camden.” Making proper allowances for miscalculations, we must conclude that these antlers belonged to the elk (Cervus canadensis). The antlers had probably been laid out so as to give their maximum extent. This township (24 north, range 12 east) is in the northwest corner of the county. The name Camden no longer appears on the maps, being apparently a former name for Pennville. The bog referred to was evidently north of the Salamonie River and close to or on the moraine bearing the same name. The elk must have lived there after, probably a long time after, this moraine was laid down.
5. Wabash County.—Elrod and Benedict reported in 1892 (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XVII, p. 240) that a Mr. Longnecer had unearthed the head and antlers of an elk in a swamp on his farm “near the west county line.” The antlers measured 8 feet from tip to tip. In this case they probably were given their greatest possible span. It is to be regretted that no more definite locality was given. For those in that region who might be interested, it would be possible to learn the location more accurately by searching the office of the county surveyor or of the county clerk. At any rate, the animal lived there in Late Wisconsin time.
6. Foresman, Newton County.—In the State Museum at Indianapolis is the left antler of an elk said to have been found in 1884, at Foresman. It is credited to D. E. Howe, and the writer has not been able to get any additional information. Foresman is on Iroquois River; and, according to Leverett’s map (Monogr. LIII, plate VI), the region about there is occupied by clay of a glacial lake bottom. The antler may be of the Recent period, but more probably of Late Wisconsin times.
7. Rensselaer, Jasper County.—In the State collection at Indianapolis just mentioned is a part, about 16 inches long, of the antler of an elk, presented by Dr. Loughridge, of Rensselaer, but no additional information is furnished. The animal may have lived at any time during or since the Late Wisconsin stage.
8. Lake County.—In the Twenty-second Annual Report of the State Geologist of Indiana, page 90, Blatchley stated that antlers of the elk had been found in this county, but no details were given.
9. Kouts, Porter County.—In the report just cited, on page 90, Blatchley, State geologist, reported antlers of a large elk found close to teeth of a mastodon. This was somewhere near Kouts.
The reports of fossil remains of Cervus canadensis in Indiana are not very satisfactory. In few cases has any effort been made to record anything like exact information as to the locality and the depth of burial and the nature of the deposit and to preserve the specimens. Nevertheless, in most instances at least, it is quite certain that the remains referred to this species were really such. While, again, some of the remains have possibly belonged to the Recent period, probably most of them date back to late Pleistocene; that is, Late Wisconsin times. In many cases the remains have been found at a depth of several feet in swamps that were being drained. It is certain that these swamp deposits accumulated with exceeding slowness. Not infrequently fossil mastodon bones and teeth have been found within a few inches of the surface. In the case of none of the finds of elk materials is there any indication of an age beyond that of the Late Wisconsin.
1. Niantic, Macon County.—in 1873 (Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. V, p. 308), A. H. Worthen reported the discovery of remains of mastodon, elk, buffalo, and deer in a bog near Niantic. The exact locality and the conditions are described on page 102. In that account it is concluded that the mastodon remains went to the museum of C. F. Günther, of Chicago, and from there to the collection of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. What became of the bones of the elk, the buffalo, and the deer is not known. As no record appears to have been kept of the depths at which each of the species was found, we do not know whether or not the others were as old as the mastodon. However, it is certain that these old ponds and marshes left on the surface of the Wisconsin drift filled up very slowly.
2. Near Whitewillow, Kendall County, 5 miles west by north of Minooka.—Dr. E. S. Riggs, of the Field Museum of Natural History, informed the writer that he had found here bones of the elk. These were also reported by him in Netta C. Anderson’s list (Augustana Coll. Publ., No. 5, page 11). Mr. George Langford, of Joliet, has likewise found elk antlers here and remains of Cervalces and Alces americanus.
For the location of this place and its geological situation page 337 may be consulted. All the species found are without doubt of Late Wisconsin age. Riggs’s statement referred to appears to indicate that the elk, buffalo, and deer bones found are of more recent age than those of the mastodons, but Mr. Langford writes that the antlers were mixed up with the mastodon bones.
3. Palos Park, Cook County.—This place is on the Wabash Railway, about 20 miles southwest of Chicago. Dr. E. S. Riggs wrote the author that in October 1915, the Field Museum of Natural History had received a fine head and antlers of the elk from the Sag Drainage Canal near Palos Park. It was found in peat at a depth of 13 feet. One can hardly doubt that the animal lived there during the latter part of the Wisconsin stage.
4. Batavia, Kane County.—Dr. E. S. Riggs, writing April 3, 1916, informed the author that he had picked up the jaw of an elk along a ditch, somewhere about Batavia, in which mastodon bones had been found. At what depth the bones had been buried could not be determined. In this case all that can be said is that the animal lived there after the Wisconsin ice had retired from that place.
5. Union Grove, Whiteside County.—In the U. S. National Museum, No. 7335, is a right astragalus of an elk found near Union Grove, 3 feet below the surface of a bed of peat, in an old channel of the Mississippi River. This astragalus was presented by Mr. Leo B. Lincoln, of Chicago, through the peat expert of the U. S. Geological Survey, Professor Charles A. Davis.
The locality is said to be in the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 7, Union Grove Township, apparently township 21 north, range 4 west. This section appears to be about 5 miles away from the present bed of the river. Although the area is outside of the Wisconsin drift-sheet, it is not probable that the elk antedates the Wisconsin stage. Its age is more probably Late Wisconsin.
6. Lead Region of Illinois.—In 1876, J. A. Allen (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XI, p. 48) stated he found in a collection made in this region by J. D. Whitney an imperfect radius that seemed not to differ at all from that of a young male Cervus canadensis. This collection is that reported on by Jeffries Wyman in 1862 (Geol. Surv. Wisconsin, vol. I, pp. 421–423). It is impossible to say whether the specimen was found in Wisconsin, Iowa, or Illinois.
As elsewhere stated, the writer formerly regarded the vertebrate fossils found in that region as belonging mostly to the Late Wisconsin; but it now appears possible they lived during a pre-Wisconsin time.
7. Beecher, Will County.—Mr. George Langford, of Joliet, Illinois, an intelligent collector of the fossils of that region, informed the author that he obtained an antler of the Cervus canadensis at a place along Trim Creek, about 3 miles north of east of Beecher. The fragment included the base and two tines. The exact locality and the geological conditions are discussed on page 107. Mr. Langford reported that the antlers were above the mastodon bones. At the same place was found a fragment of an antler of Cervalces. All these species belonged probably to very late Pleistocene time.
1. Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County.—In the Public Museum of Milwaukee are parts of both antlers of an elk found at Miller’s brewery, in Wauwatosa, at a depth of 4 feet.
Wauwatosa is a suburb west of Milwaukee, on the Menomonie River, situated principally on one of the moraines laid down just before the Wisconsin ice-sheet retired into Lake Michigan. The elk must have lived there since that withdrawal of the ice. It is possible that the antlers were found in marsh deposits of Recent age along the Menomonie River.
2. Pewaukee, Waukesha County.—This town is situated about 20 miles north of west of Milwaukee. In the Public Museum at Milwaukee is an antler which was plowed up somewhere about Pewaukee by Stanley G. Haskins and presented by him to the museum. Probably the antler belongs to the Recent epoch.
3. Whitehall, Trempealeau County.—From Dr. S. Weidman, State geologist of Wisconsin, the writer received a tibia found near Whitehall and which he identifies as belonging to Cervus canadensis. The following account of the discovery has been furnished by Dr. Weidman:
“The gully (fig. 2) in which the tibia was found is eroded out of stratified sand, containing fragments of local sandstone and cherts. The stratified sand, with local small fragments of sandstone, is, of course, pre-loessial in origin, but the erosion of the lower terrace is post-loessial, and the gully is very recent. The tibia was taken 2 feet below the lower terrace, along the side of the gully about 5 or 6 feet deep at the lower end and 3 or 4 feet deep at the upper end; length of gully 300 or 400 feet. The bone may possibly have been inserted after the development of the lower terrace, but I could see no indication of disturbance or change in the upper 2 feet of the lower terrace further exposed by the gully at this point, the upper 2 feet being essentially the same at this point as elsewhere along the side of the gully. If the bone was deposited along with the small fragments of sandstone in the stratified formation, the fragments being usually flat, about 0.5 inch thick by 1 to 2 inches wide, then the bone is evidently pre-loessial in age. I am inclined to think the bone was deposited with the sandstone fragments during the process of the filling up of the valley with the stratified surface, long before the loess was deposited in the region, rather than after the loess and the lower terrace was formed.”
Fig. 2.—Diagrammatic section of gully near Whitehall, Wisconsin, showing place of burial of elk bone.
According to this account the specimen belonged to the Peorian stage or an earlier one.
1. Oxford Neck, Talbot County.—In 1869 (Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. XI, p. 178), Cope stated that a collection of vertebrate fossils had been found on the farm of Lambert Kirby, in Oxford Neck, including parts of antlers. These were not distinguishable from those of the elk and the Virginia deer. They were placed in the Baltimore Academy of Natural Sciences.
1. On Neuse River, Pamlico County, 16 miles below Newbern.—On page 117, in discussing the occurrence of mastodons at this place, it is stated that H. B. Croom had reported also the presence of elk remains. A more competent witness was Richard Harlan, who included the elk in his list of species (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XLIII, 1842, p. 143). The reader is referred to page 358, where the locality and the species are further considered.
1. Charleston, Charleston County.—Dr. Joseph Leidy does not seem to mention the occurrence of the wapiti at Charleston. F. S. Holmes, in the introduction to his work on Post-Pliocene fossils of South Carolina, page 7, mentions the elk among the animals found in the Pleistocene beds which still have living representatives.
In the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences, at Philadelphia, are two teeth, labeled as from Ashley River and credited to Captain A. H. Bowman. It is possible that Leidy did not mention them because he regarded them as teeth of elk that lived within Recent times.
1. Brunswick, Glynn County.—In a list of fossil vertebrates dredged, probably, from the harbor at Brunswick, Gidley (Bull. No. 26, Geol. Surv. Georgia, p. 436) announced the finding of some part, supposedly a tooth, of a cervuline, “probably belonging to the genus Cervus.” That C. canadensis might have lived in that region during some part of the Pleistocene is not at all improbable; that it lived there during the time that Megatherium existed we have not at present sufficient evidence.
1. Alafia River, Hillsboro County.—From the late Professor F. W. Putnam the writer learned that he had obtained from Alafia River some part of the elk. The present writer has not seen the specimen.
Whitesburg, Hamblen County.—In a collection of fossil vertebrates secured at Whitesburg and described by the writer in 1920 are some fragments of teeth which were referred to Cervus canadensis (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LVIII, p. 92). A list of the species is presented on page 395.
1. Bigbone Lick, Boone County.—In his report of 1831 on Bigbone Lick, William Cooper (Monthly Amer. Jour. Geol., vol. I, p. 207) stated that he had found remains of Cervus canadensis; but he did not appear to be wholly certain of this. Shaler was likewise in doubt regarding the presence of the elk (Geol. Surv. Kentucky, vol. III, n. s., p. 197). Other authors have mentioned the elk as occurring here, but not in a convincing way. Nevertheless, it is not at all improbable that this species was represented here. The geology of this locality is considered on pages 401 to 404 and a list of the species is presented.
2. Bluelick Springs, Nicholas County.—In the collection of fossil vertebrates secured by Mr. Thomas W. Hunter, living near Bluelick Springs, were teeth, some bones, and fragments of antlers. This collection had been secured in an attempt to clean out and restore the failing springs. Whether or not these remains date back to the Pleistocene is uncertain. They are reported to have been found above the bones of the mastodon.