Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 17 Early the next morning, the crew got up with the sun. Quietly stalking their quarry, they crept through the rifts and valleys of what is now known as Makoshika State Park. They stealthily am- bushed their prey that was grazing near Cains Coulee Creek. The mammoth would help to feed their people and provide resources necessary to survive. Of course, the area wouldn't be designated as a state park for another 11,000 years, and many more Indian tribes would set up camp in the area. Even today, as you camp in the park, your tent is likely pitched on the same grassy plain where countless other groups have set up camp in the years before we were here. Makoshika State Park, derived from the Lakota words meaning "bad land," consists of dry river beds that have given way to the winds and waters of time, showing us that for many millions of years, creatures big and small have called this area their home. THE HELL CREEK FORMATION OF EASTERN MONTANA Sixty-six million years ago the earth was going through a tran- sition. The climate was changing, and Montana was shifting from a sub-tropical to a more arid environment. The Cretaceous peri- od, marked with lush vegetation and home to enormous reptilian creatures, was drawing to a close. Soon, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, and countless other species would fade from existence in a mass extinction phenomenon. Mammals gradually came to take their place as the earth entered into the Paleocene epoch. As the dinosaurs died off, many of them merely decayed and returned to the earth. But if the conditions were just right, such as those conditions found in eastern Montana, they were quickly buried in the surrounding sediment, and spent the next several million years transforming from organic matter into fossilized bones. As wind and water eroded away the softer soils, the rugged and "bad" landscape that we know today was exposed. Fossilized dino- A QUICK BREATH OF AIR SURGED PAST THE SPARKS LYING GENTLY ON DRY GRASS. A few more puffs, and the fire crackled, bringing warmth and light to the campsite. A small group of hunters gathered around to keep warm before turning in for the night; tomorrow was going to be a long and hard day's work if they were to have a successful hunt. article and photos by SCOTT SERRY illustrations by ROBERT RATH F O L L OW I N G T H E PAT H O F T H E D I N O S AU R S

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