The Battle for Sue:

A Controversy Over Commercial Collecting, Fossil

Ownership Rights and its Effects on Museums

Adrienne Stroup MUS 503: Intro to Museum Studies 13 December 2011

Should commercial fossil dealing be legal? Many museums rely on dealers for specimens because they do not have the resources to fund professional excavations conducted by paleontologists. On the contrary, many members of the scientific community believe commercial fossil hunting by amateurs hurts the integrity of paleontology, and in turn negatively affects museums. This debate, along with issues surrounding the ownership rights of fossil resources, is not a new one, but it came to the attention of the media when a Tyrannosaurus rex dubbed “Sue” was discovered in South

Dakota in 1990.

Flashing back 67 million years ago, western South Dakota was once the coast of an inland sea that divided the North American continent in two. The climate was humid and swampy, with dense vegetation, much like the southeastern United States is today

(Fiffer 12). The seven-ton Tyrannosaurus dominated the landscape as the top predator of the Cretaceous Period. Standing over thirteen feet tall at the hips, up to twenty feet tall when standing completely upright, and forty-one feet long, Sue would have been a formidable opponent (Reedstrom). Her fossilized remains portray an animal that led a violent and difficult life, with evidence of a healed leg fracture, and other injuries. A tooth fragment embedded in her rib and puncture wounds in her jaw and eye socket suggest fights with other Tyrannosaurs, leading to her possible cause of death, a fatal skull-crushing bite (Monastersky, “Sake of Sue”). Her life may have been difficult, but that is only the beginning. The events that take place after her discovery continue her unique story.

At the time of her discovery she was the largest, and best-preserved

Tyrannosaurus fossil ever found. Ninety percent of her skeleton exists, making her by far the most complete T. rex specimen. In fact, she is so well preserved that the contents of her stomach reveal her last meal was an Edmontosaurus, a species of duck-billed dinosaur (Fiffer 2). Considering that she was only the twelfth T. rex found after a hundred years of fossil hunting, this discovery was truly the find of the century. Only four of these Tyrannosaurus skeletons contained sixty percent of their bones, and presently fewer than thirty skeletons exist (Monastersky, “Psst”). One can start to sense the importance of this find, not just to the scientific community but to the world, and this significance was certainly not lost to those directly involved with her discovery.

In the summer of 1990, the president of the Black Hills Institute for Geologic

Research, Peter Larson, along with a team of commercial fossil hunters set out to Faith,

South Dakota to search for fossils near property owned by a local rancher named Maurice

Williams. Williams, a Native American who is one-quarter Cheyenne River Sioux, approached Larson, inviting him to search on his land (Monastersky, “Sake of Sue”).

Larson’s team obliged and on August 12th, team member Susan Hendrickson discovered the now famous T. rex, which was named Sue in her honor (Fiffer 2). With the discovery of that initial vertebra, Larson said he asked for William’s permission to excavate immediately and two weeks later the skull was uncovered. Easily considered the most important piece of any fossilized skeleton, for scientists and collectors alike, due to the rarity, the scientific information it can provide, and its aesthetic quality, the skull’s discovery started the negotiations (Fiffer 25). Larson handed Williams a check for $5000 to purchase the skeleton and completed the excavation (Monastersky, “Sake of Sue”).

However, this is where the events become muddied with conflicting recollections of the story. Communication was not clear, and paying Williams for the fossil before it was even fully out of the ground may have been confusing to the rancher. Williams openly accepted the check though, assuming it was for permission to search for fossils, or for the excavation-related damage to his land. He claimed Larson did not explain what the money was for, though according to Larson’s attorney, Patrick K. Duffy, the check was clearly labeled. This clarity is subjective however, as it was labeled: “For Theropod

Sue,” which is not in layman’s terms (Monastersky, “Sake of Sue”). The term

“theropod” refers to the family of bipedal carnivorous dinosaurs to which Tyrannosaurs belongs, and “Sue” was a nickname the crew had just given to the fossil. In contrast,

Larson has a different account of what happened the day the skull was discovered.

According to an interview with Larson by Karen Reedstrom, Williams visited the site, watched the excavation in progress and eventually the two agreed on a price. A hand written contract was created but Williams told him “there’s no need to sign anything between friends” and accepted the money.

Regardless of the actual events of that day, Williams never possessed the authority to sell the Tyrannosaurus without first gaining the approval of Department of

Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. As a Native American, his land is held in trust by the United States government (Hoganson 15). In other words, Williams technically owned his property, but the Federal Government controls what can be done with it. This option allowed Williams to be exempt from property taxes for a span of twenty-five years, which is a common practice on reservations (Browne, “Seizure”). As a stipulation, real estate held in trust cannot be sold, and since the T. rex was not completely excavated at the time of her sale, she was still considered to be real estate by the U.S. District Court Judge, Richard Battey, of Rapid City, South Dakota. Because of this highly controversial ruling, the sale of Sue was never valid (Janke). Whether Larson knew this or not, is unknown.

The dig was completed and all ten tons of fossilized bone, much of it still incased in rock, were transported back to the Black Hills Institute(BHI) in Hill City, South

Dakota, where Peter Larson and his brother and partner Neal had plans for building a nonprofit museum. For thirty years they had dreams of building one to showcase some of their fossil collection, ninety percent of which are sold to museums and universities as casts or original specimens, and the rest to private collectors, all carefully prepared by the

BHI staff. As an advocate for amateur fossil collectors, paleontologist and curator for the

Huston Museum of Natural Science, Dr. Robert T. Bakker, has always supported the

Black Hills Institute, and their excavation and preparatory work. He had this to say about

Larson and the institute:

Peter Larson’s organization is one of the most competent excavators and

preparators of fossils in the business, and his generosity to scientists in

allowing us to study specimens is well known. He keeps meticulous

records, he is better at mounting specimens than many scientists, and he

has pioneered the development of special glues for mending broken fossil

bones. (qtd. in Browne, “Dinosaur”)

In March of 1992, the Larson brothers officially announced the plans to build what would be called the Black Hills Museum of Natural History. A foundation for the museum was created and fundraising had begun (Fiffer 42). The museum was designed to showcase

Sue, along with other fossils found in the area. The intent was to keep the fossil in a local institution to highlight the natural history of the region, and promote tourism. At least two thousand hours of preparation work went into Sue at this point (Reedstrom). There was even plans to have the skull CAT-scanned by NASA scientists for National

Geographic (Janke). However, this did not go as planned.

Word of this dispute spread, grabbing the attention of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribal council. Believing the dinosaur rightfully belonged to them, because of where it was found, the council asked for help from U.S. Attorney Kevin Schieffer, who issued a search warrant to seize the T. rex from Larson on May 13, 1992 (Monastersky, “Sake of

Sue”). The fossil was to be used as evidence in a criminal case against Larson and BHI.

The next day members of the National Guard, the FBI, the National Park Service, the

Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and local police raided the institute, confiscating Sue and all of the associated records and paperwork. Even some fossils unrelated to the Tyrannosaur were taken, as well as BHI’s financial records

(Janke; Reedstrom). Schieffer deemed Sue was government property based on the

Antiquities Act from 1956, which included the protection of fossils along with Native

American artifacts found on government-controlled land (Fiffer 106). This surprised everyone, including the chairman of the Sioux tribal council, Gregg Bourland (Fiffer 57).

The tribal council also had hopes of building their own museum around the T. rex. Plans were already made to begin training tribe members fossil curation techniques (Fiffer

101). Schieffer’s ruling was not valid, however, because the act was revised in the 1980s to exclude fossils as they are not cultural relics. Essentially, he used the Antiquities Act to gain possession of the fossil and when it no longer helped him in court, he simply abandoned that route (Fiffer 106). In addition, Schieffer had this to say, “The real problem was that unless we acted, Sue might have been lost. Mr. Larson would have been able to dispose of it any way he chose. We want to make sure it remains forever available to the public” (qtd. in Browne, “Seizure”). Schieffer’s words made Larson sound like a looter, only looking to make a profit from the specimen, with no concern for the scientific value of it. With the plans to build a museum to house the dinosaur, this was obviously never Larson’s intent.

Regardless, the government officials repacked the T. rex in plaster jackets and shipped her off to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, in Rapid City

(Hoganson 15). Here the bones were stored, precariously stacked on top of one another, inside a steel tank in a machine shop adjacent to a boiler room. This storage space was not climate controlled, thus the temperature fluctuations could cause the cracks in the bones to expand and contract, eventually splitting them (Fiffer 63). Furthermore, geological and biological processes were harming the bones while they were suspended in limbo at the school. For example, mold and mildew began to grow in the cracks as a result of the rushed application of the plaster jackets, which were not given adequate time to dry. Also, the unorthodox use of wet toilet paper to aid in sealing the bones did nothing but promote the mold growth (Fiffer 69). Larson and his associates appealed to have the specimen returned for the sake of conservation, but courts decided that moving the fossil again would cause more damage to it than the machine shop’s climate conditions would for the amount of time it would be there. At the time, no one could predict the suspension would last almost five years.

Throughout the raid, which took three days to complete, members of the community began to protest. By the third day almost two hundred people had come out to the institute to rally and lend support. It was a tremendous loss to the institute when

Sue was sent into storage at the School of Mines, but in many ways the Hill City community suffered the greatest loss. This small South Dakota town depended on this incredible fossil to generate tourism, as the centerpiece of a new museum, which would have created jobs and put Hill City on the map. In fact, there were already plans for a

Municipal Gross Receipts Tax, also known as a “bed, board and booze” tax, to go into effect. Money collected from this tax was to be used for purchasing the ten acres of land on which the Black Hills Museum of Natural History would be built (Fiffer 53). Indeed,

Sue was more than just a fossil, she had become a beloved icon and symbol of economic hope to the entire community.

Overall, Larson and other institute staff members were charged with thirty-nine

“white collar” felony accounts, and yet Schieffer never used Sue as evidence in the criminal case. Larson and his accused associates pled not guilty on December 10, 1993, but in March of 1995 Larson, two other staff members and BHI itself were convicted of eight felonies and five misdemeanors (Monastersky, “Sake of Sue”). However, none of the allegations pertained to Sue, and some of the convictions were dropped. Peter

Larson, though, was sentenced to eighteen months in Federal Prison for carrying over ten thousand dollars across United States boarders without reporting it, as well as illegal excavation of fossils from government land worth less than one hundred dollars

(“Curse”).

In 1995 the courts decided the sale of the dinosaur was never valid and ruled that it should be returned to Williams, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs was issued to work with the landowner to decide how the specimen could benefit him the most (Cataldo; Hoganson 15). Thus, Williams decided to profit from the fossil as much as he could, and on October 4, 1997 Sue was sold at Sotheby’s auction house in New York City for $8.36 million in less than ten minutes. Bought by the Field Museum of Natural History in

Chicago, aided with funding from McDonald’s and Disney, it is the highest price ever paid for one fossil specimen. Williams received $7.6 million from the sale, completely tax-free (Monastersky, “Psst”). Meanwhile, Larson was finishing up his almost two-year sentence, and would soon return to BHI. Larson and his associates were pleased with the outcome, though many wondered how this unprecedented sale would affect the museum community and the field of paleontology.

The multi-million dollar sale of the T. rex has caused the market value of fossils to skyrocket, many over the million dollar mark, some as high as $15 million, a fact that seriously worries many museum paleontologists. Smaller museums cannot compete; the funds to purchase such specimens just are not available. Curator of paleontology at the

Museum of the Rockies, John Horner, is not a supporter of amateur collectors, because they do not possess the training to properly excavate the bones. Often they do not collect the matrix of rock and sediment surrounding the fossils, which is scientifically significant. The matrix is crucial in placing that fossil within the geological context, allowing researchers to learn much more about the specimen than just studying the bones themselves can provide (Fiffer 208). Mainly, he is against commercial collectors because of the unexpected ramifications to professional, museum-funded excavations. The increased market value of dinosaur fossils, as a result of Sue’s sale, has resulted in compromised relations between landowners and academic collectors. Mirroring Larson’s experience, Horner has encountered landowners who have asked for dinosaur skeletons found on their property to be returned, regardless that they had granted Horner’s team permission to excavate. Though museum staff had already prepared them for display, he surrendered them. Also, knowing they can profit more by working with commercial collectors, some landowners are no longer granting scientists access to their land at all, or charging exorbitant search fees that only commercial collectors can afford to pay.

Horner’s solution to this issue is for museums to sponsor fieldwork, but unfortunately this is not always financially possible (Monastersky, “Psst”). It all comes back to economics.

Commercial collectors are financially driven, as they are interested in the fossils that will yield the highest monetary value possible, and dinosaurs are a perennial favorite.

Despite the negative attention, there have also been positive outcomes involving commercial fossil hunting. Dealers and companies, such as BHI, have helped museums build their collections. Museum funding is often limited, so in some circumstances buying a fossil already prepared, mounted, and ready for display, can be an affordable alternative to a museum-funded excavation. After factoring in expenses related to travel, equipment, and hiring crewmembers, these excavations may not be financially feasible for smaller museums. Not to mention they can take anywhere from a week to many years to complete. Therefore, it is practical for a smaller museum to purchase a dinosaur ready for display. As far as private collectors are concerned, many believe that there are more than enough specimens available for research purposes and public enrichment. Indeed, if these specimens are protected in someone’s living room, at least they are not being subjected to the destructive environmental and geological forces they would be if they were left unexcavated. In fact, some museums, such as the Museum of the Earth in

Ithaca, New York, mention in their collections management policy that, “to leave fossils uncollected assures their degradation and ultimate loss to the scientific and educational world through natural processes of weathering and erosion” (PRI). Peter Larson supports this idea (“Curse”). It is the ethical duty of natural history museums to collect as much as possible. Amateur and commercial collectors may not be formally trained in excavation but some are highly skilled and have helped the museum community greatly.

Specimens such as Sue are always popular with the public, and her sale generated a lot of positive interest in paleontology and museums in general. This fascination, many believe, will help boost ticket sales, providing surplus income to fund more research, not only at the Field Museum but other natural history museums as well (Monastersky,

“Psst”). Understanding this, the Field Museum made sure the public did not get forget about Sue. From the acquisition to the opening of her exhibition, “SUE at The Field

Museum,” Sue was introduced to the world through small installations. First, the teeth were put on display and the feedback was so positive, another exhibit was designed.

“Sue Uncrated” opened in November of 1997, which showed various stages of the bone preparation, including video elements and preparators in action. Since much of the initial prep work was done at BHI, photos of their work supplemented the exhibit (Fiffer 217).

After two years of studying the fossil, another exhibit opened in May of 1999 entitled

“Sue: The Inside Story.” Around this time casts of the skeleton were created for two traveling exhibits, and educational programs were designed, with the help of one of their financial partners, McDonald’s (Fiffer 223). Unveiled on May 17, 2000, Sue was officially introduced to the world (Fiffer 228). This majestic creature could finally be enjoyed and appreciated by the public, as it was always meant to be. Though the feud between commercial and academic fossil collectors has been ongoing since the early days of paleontology, the case of Sue brought new life to this old rivalry. This case probably would not have been so controversial if the skeleton had not been found on Native American land, the excavators had not been commercial fossil hunters, and the specimen had not been such a spectacular example of the world’s most famous dinosaur. Every element of this story fuels the controversy. Though some negative outcomes resulted from this situation, many positive ones did as well. Luckily,

Sue was not left undiscovered to erode away forever, and she was not left in storage to succumb to slow deterioration. She has risen to her former glory, on view at the Chicago

Field Museum to inspire and delight her audiences and divulge her scientific secrets kept for 67 million years.

Works Cited

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Cataldo, Rosie. “Digging for Dollars: Ninth District Dinosaurs Still Have an (Economic) Impact.” Fedgazette 1 July 2001: n. pag. Web. 29 Nov. 2011.

“Curse of T. rex.” NOVA. PBS. 25 Feb. 1997. Transcript. Web. 29 Nov. 2011.

Fiffer, Steve. Tyrannosaurus Sue: the extraordinary saga of the largest, most fought over T. rex ever found. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 2000. Print.

Hoganson, John W. “The Selling of the Tyrannosaurus rex Named ‘Sue’: Its effects on North Dakota’s Fossil Resource Management Program.” North Dakota Geological Survey Newsletter. 25.2 (1998): 14-17. Print.

Janke, Paul R. “The Seizure of Sue the T. rex.” The Worldwide Museum of Natural History. Pan Terra, Inc., 1999. Web. 13 Nov. 2011

Monastersky, Richard. “For the Sake of Sue: What will happen to the world’s best T. rex?” Science News. 11 Nov. 1995: n. pag. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.

---. “Psst… wanna buy a T. rex? Paleontologists fret about dinosaur sales.” Science News. 13 Dec. 1997: n. pag. HighBeam Research. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.

PRI Collections Policies. Paleontological Research Institute. n. pag. July 2005. Microsoft Word File.

Reedstrom, Karen. Interview With Terry Wentz and Peter Larson. Full Context. 5.4 (1993). n. pag. Web. 29 Nov. 2011.