Tualatin's Mastodon

A unique highlight of the Tualatin Public Library is its striking display of an articulated mastodon skeleton, which is mounted in front of an etched-glass image of a mastodon.

The mastodon skeleton was unearthed in Tualatin near the Library in 1962 by two Portland State University students. John George grew up in Tualatin and remembered the town marshal telling about some enormous bones that he had seen in the swamp near Nyberg Creek (just south of the current Fred Meyer store parking lot). Along with Ron and George Sund, George spent a a month excavating the bones, recovering nearly half of a skeleton. 

The bones were originally displayed at Portland State University before being given to then Tualatin City Manager Yvonne Addington in the 1970s. After several years in storage (first in Tualatin, then at the Portland Zoo), the Tualatin Historical Society and community members raised funds to have the bones cleaned and restored, and the skeleton was put on display within the Library. The current display was created as part of the Library's renovation and expansion in 2008.  

The skeleton was carbon-dated and determined to have died about 14,000 years ago. Scientists estimate this mastodon was a female who died in her 20s. 

Fossil sites recently discovered in California and Colorado have precipitated new research on mastodons from western North America. This research has led to a new species classification, the Pacific mastodon (Mammut Pacificus). Based on detailed measurements of its teeth, the Tualatin mastodon has been identified as a member of the newly defined Pacific mastodon species, making it the first reported specimen in Oregon. 

Tualatin has been named as a partner on the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail. In partnership with the Tualatin Historical Society, the Library also currently displays several other Ice Age relics. An interactive display in the Children's Room offers the Library's young visitors a hands-on opportunity to learn more about these massive creatures that once roamed in Tualatin. 

I Wonder..., a story about the Tualatin mastodon and a boy who wonders what it would be like to live when the mastodons lived, is available to check out at Tualatin Library.