During the routine construction of a stock pond near Worland, Donald Colby uncovered a Clovis projectile point. In so doing, Colby found some of the earliest known evidence of human activity in Wyoming, dating to over 11,000 years old. Beginning in 1973, a team of archaeologists led by Dr. George Frison began investigating Colby’s find. Frison’s team found a total of 463 bones concentrated in two piles in a prehistoric arroyo along with several stone and bone artifacts. Among the bones were the remains of at least seven mammoths. Although some of the bones were disturbed, Frison and other researchers believe that the bone piles were the remains of meat caches. This find provides a unique glimpse into the life of the first hunters and gatherers of Wyoming. Visitors can stop at a commemorative roadside marker near the site where the mammoth remains were uncovered. To learn more about the site, stop by the Washakie Museum in nearby Worland to see an exhibit dedicated to the Colby mammoth discovery. An additional display, housing some of the Colby mammoth remains, is located at the University of Wyoming Anthropology Department Museum in Laramie.
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