The story behind the giant footprints at Nevada State Prison
CARSON CITY, Nev. — The story behind the giant footprints found at Nevada State Prison will be told Feb. 20 by paleontologist Gene Hattori.
Hattori, curator of anthropology and state paleontologist at Nevada State Museum, will be the featured speaker in the third lecture of a Nevada Sesquicentennial series sponsored by the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society.
His talk, “Fossils at Nevada State Prison,” will begin at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Silver Oak Executive Conference Center, 1251 Country Club Drive, Carson City. It is free and open to the public.
A native Nevadan, Hattori received his bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Nevada, Reno. His master’s and doctoral degrees in anthropology are from Washington State University.
His specialties include prehistoric and historic archaeology of Nevada. He most recently helped produce the museum’s Nevada Sesquicentennial exhibit, “Finding Fremont: Pathfinder of the West.”
Fossilized footprints representing Ice Age mammals and birds were uncovered by inmates while quarrying sandstone within the prison yard during the 1880s.
Among these trackways was a series of footprints 25 inches in length initially interpreted as those of giant humans. Scientists from the California Academy of Sciences and the University of California (Berkeley) debated the origins of the footprints for over two decades.
Hattori will present evidence for the two major schools of thought concerning their origins.
The Nevada State Prison Preservation Society was formed to preserve the historic prison on the state capital’s east side. The prison was built in 1862 and is the third-oldest in the West, after only San Quentin and Alcatraz. It was decommissioned in May 2012.
For more information on the NSPPS and membership, visit www.nspps.org. You may also write to info@nspps.org or simply attend the Feb. 20 talk.
The Preservation Society has plans to preserve the historic portions of the prison and its unusual features.
NSPPS is a Nevada nonprofit corporation and has applied for federal nonprofit status.
Individual memberships start at $25 a year ($20 for seniors) and will help NSPPS fund its goals of not only preserving a unique and prominent piece of Nevada history, but to open the old prison’s doors to tourists and events.
- Carson City
- Archaeology
- birds
- California
- carson
- center
- City
- club
- conference
- country
- events
- Exhibit
- features
- Free
- Fremont
- help
- historic
- Ice
- information
- lecture
- Lifestyle
- May
- Membership
- memberships
- museum
- Nevada
- Nevada history
- Nevada State Museum
- Nevada State Prison
- Nevada State Prison Preservation Society
- Nonprofit
- preservation
- Preserve
- public
- Schools
- seniors
- silver
- state
- talk
- University of Nevada
- university of nevada reno
- Washington
- history
- reno