Date in 1949
|
Activities of George Langford, Sr. [in the handwriting of George Langford,
Jr. transcribed from GL, Sr.'s notes]. |
April
12
|
Left
home
with
[Dr.
and Mrs. Robert H.] Whitfield 8:15AM and then down to
Manor House, at the intersection of Routes 6 and 66, and reserved
rooms. Then down to Pig Pen, west side [Locality
No.
7 and Locality
No.
8] and collected until 5:00PM. Supper at
Braidwood. Spent evening until 1:00AM at [Peter] Enrietta's
house, seeing pictures and the eclipse of the moon.
|
April
13
|
Drove
to
Morris
[Illinois
- GL,III] for breakfast; drove down to Mazon
Creek. Stopped at Sidney Carr's home at "Bartlett's." I
hunted vainly for fossil beds, water too high; and we went way too far
east. We drove along river east past strip mines; no
fossils. Continued east and passed the long excavation northwest
of Coal City [in Grundy County - GL,Jr.] Finally landed at Pig
Pen [Locality
No.
3]. I reached home at 6:15PM.
Flora
|
Attribute
|
Number
|
|
Med.
Large
|
40
|
|
Small
|
22
|
|
Total
|
62
|
|
|
|
Fauna
|
Type
|
Number
|
|
Mulluscs |
2
|
|
Acanthotelson
|
1
|
|
Total
|
3
|
|
April
27-29
|
Three
days
in
the
field with [Eugene S.] Richardson. Perfect
weather. We spent the afternoon of April 27th one half mile west
of the "Piano" [Locality
No.
2]. Next day, April 28th, we went
to one mile south of Wilmington, Locality
No.
20 and Locality
No.
21. April 29th we spent until noon on the east side of Pig
Pen in
the southwest corner [Locality
No.
3]. In the afternoon we drove
far to the northeast and tried one poor spot where I had been with the
Whitfields in October, 1948 [in Grundy County - GL,Jr.]
Flora
|
Attribute
|
Number
|
|
Large
|
140
|
|
Small
|
102
|
|
Total
|
242
|
|
|
|
Fauna
|
Type
|
Number
|
|
Bivalves
|
12
|
|
Paleocaris
|
2
|
|
Acanthotelson
|
2
|
|
Euphoberia
|
2
|
|
Ostracoda
|
1
|
|
Euproops
|
6
|
|
Spider
|
1
|
|
Winged
insect
|
1
|
|
Total
|
27
|
|
May
5
&
6
|
Left
house
at
7:45AM
but had trouble with car battery and was delayed.
Arrived at Illinois Clay Products Company at 11:30AM, same time as Otis
Jones. He gave me three men and a truck. We went to
Odontopteris
bed [Locality
No.
31] and worked until 4:30PM; they left
for Coal City. I went to Wollard's and secured a cabin, then
spent two hours on northeast quarter of Pig Pen, Locality
No.
4.
Total: one pail of fossils for the day. May 6th, I met the three
Illinois Clay Products men at 8:00AM. Went to south shore of Long
Pond and worked the north side of the hills [Locality
No.
7 and Locality
No.
8] until noon. In the P.M. we worked the southeast side
of
the Pig Pen [Locality
No.
3] My three men left at 3:00PM. I
spent two hours on northeast side of Pig Pen [Locality
No.
4] on south
side of hills. Weather clear and plenty hot for the two days.
Flora
|
Attribute
|
Number
|
|
Large
|
90
|
|
Small
|
104
|
|
Total
(seven
good
for
photos)
|
194
|
|
|
|
Fauna
|
Type
|
Number
|
|
Pelycopods
(3
species)
|
7
|
|
Crabs
|
6
|
|
Snail
|
1
|
|
Acanthotelson
|
3
|
|
Spider
|
1
|
|
Total
|
18
|
|
May
19-21
|
Thursday,
May
19th,
left
house at 7:15AM, arrived Goose Lake at 9:45AM.
Took same three men and truck. We drove into end of Long Pond [to
Locality
No.
28] and worked south side of hill about two hundred yards
west [to Locality
No.
31] Rain caught us, and we were soaked when
we got back to the truck. Rain in torrents from 11:30AM to
2:30PM. We got out just in time, everything flooded, worst rain I
have seen in many years. About one hour in the morning was about
all the work we did. It kept raining more mildly until
4:00PM. I then drove to Coal City and called on Mrs.
McClucki. John [M. McClucki, Coal City,
Illinois] was working [as dragline operator in the strip mines.]
It kept raining more or less until late in the evening. Very
cold. We were all soaked to the skin. Friday, May 20th;
weather was cool and cloudy, but no rain. The three men from
Illinois Clay Products met me with Jeep truck at 8:00AM at the Pig
Pen. We spent the day on the southeast part [of Locality
No.
3]
working the third, fourth and fifth lines of clay heaps, counting from
the East. I picked many spots where the men were to dig, and they
uncovered a lot of new, good stuff. The rain had exposed many
nodules. This was the most successful day I ever spent in the
strip mine area. The men left me at 3:00PM and I continued alone
until 7:15PM. Mr. Johnston, Superintendent of the Illinois Clay
Products Company, came to see me at noon and to arrange for another
trip Wednesday and Thursday, June 1st and 2nd. Saturday, May
21st. I left my cabin at 6:15AM, stopped at Plainfield for
breakfast, and arrived at the Field Museum at 8:45AM. Weather
cool and cloudy.
Flora
|
Attribute
|
Number
|
|
Large
|
148
|
|
Small
|
153
|
|
Total
(about
seven
new
flora)
|
301
|
|
|
|
Fauna
|
Type
|
Number
|
|
Crabs
|
2
|
|
Euphoberia
|
1
|
|
Winged
insect
|
1
(new)
|
|
Ostracods
|
3
|
|
Bivalves
|
9
|
|
Fish
scale
|
1
|
|
Total
|
17
|
|
May
28
|
I
drove
down
to
the strip mines with Sydne [Sydne Holmes Langford].
Weather perfect. I hunted on the west side of Pig Pen [Locality
No.
7].
Flora
|
Attribute
|
Number
|
|
Large
|
31
|
|
Small
|
8
|
|
Total
|
39
|
|
|
|
Fauna
|
Type
|
Number
|
|
Acanthotelson
|
1
|
|
Total
|
1
|
|
June
4
|
Drove
down
to
strip
mines with Sydne. Weather fine, a bit warmer than
the previous Saturday. I worked on the southeast side of Pig Pen
[Locality
No.
3].
|
June
8
&
9
|
I
left
Chicago
7:30AM,
arrived Goose lake 9:40AM. Assistant
Superintendent Tom Allen gave me the Jeep truck and three men; Ray
(driver), Donald (tall) and Joe. We drove to the east end of Long
Pond and worked there [Locality
No.
7]. Then east on the north
side of the small pond back of Pig Pen [Locality
No.
5]. After
lunch we crossed the ditch to hills on the south side of Long Pond,
about one hundred fifty yards in [Locality
No.
8]. The men left
me at 4:00PM, and I worked until 7:30PM on south side of Pig Pen
[Locality
No.
3] gathering small ones. Weather clear and cool;
night rather cold. June 9th. We worked from 8:00AM to
4:00PM on southeast end of Long Pond [Locality
No.
7]. Weather
clear and warm.
Flora
|
Attribute
|
Number
|
|
Large
|
168
|
|
Small
|
156
|
|
New
|
14
|
|
Total
|
338
|
|
|
|
Fauna
|
Type
|
Number
|
|
Bivalves
|
12
|
|
Euproops
|
5
|
|
Acanthotelson
|
8
|
|
Ostracods
|
1
|
|
Gyromices
|
1
|
|
Insect
|
1
|
|
Arthropod
|
1
|
|
Total
|
29
|
|
June
16
&
17
|
Weather
cloudy
and
cool.
I left 7:30AM, arrived at Illinois Clay Products
Company at 9:40AM. Took three men and truck. Worked all day
on southeast side of Pig Pen [Locality
No.
3]. Men left me at
4:00PM and I continued same place [Locality
No.
3] farther west until
7:30PM. We got three and one-half pails of fossils. On June
17th we shifted to the southeast side of Pig Pen [Locality
No.
3] dug a
lot, and got good, fresh specimens. Weather fine. My three
men left me at 3:15PM.
|
July
20
&
21
|
Left
Chicago
7:15AM,
arrived
at Illinois Clay Products Company at
9:30AM. Met Dr. Elmer Stephen and Mr. Carney of Standard Oil
Company there. With three men and Jeep truck I went to an old
strip mine locality about one-half mile east and three-quarter mile
south of Illinois Clay Products Company [in Grundy County but not
specifically located - GL,Jr.] We found queer nodules; very hard
blue stone with much pyrites. We then went to the southeast Pig
Pen [Locality
No.
3] but rain soon started and held us up one
hour. Ray hammered his left thumb. Everything hot and
sticky. My men lost their pep and left early. I kept on
until 7:30PM. It was a bum day.
|
August
21
|
I
went
down
to
the mines on Saturday with the Whitfield family. We
went rather far in on the south side of Long Pond [perhaps to Locality
No.
17 or Locality
No. 28.]
|
Aug.
31
&
Sept.
1
|
Took
Orville
Gilpin
with
me. We went west on Long Pond to about one
hundred yards west of the line of cottonwoods [Locality
No.
8].
Weather fine until about 2:00PM, when a near hurricane struck us from
the west. We hurried out, and the wind nearly blew us off
the peaks. Rain hit us as we reached low ground, and we got a
wetting. We drove out to the southeast side of Pig Pen [Locality
No.
3] and hunted until another rain drove us out. Weather cold
that night. September 1st. Weather clear & cool in the
A.M., but we soon shed our coats. Went in far west on Long Pond
[Locality
No.
17 ?] working back east [through Locality
No.
8] to east end of Long Pond [Locality
No.
7]. We got some good stuff those
two days.
Flora
|
Attribute
|
Number
|
|
Large
|
223
+
20
|
|
Small
|
142
+
65
|
|
Total
|
450
|
|
|
|
Fauna
|
Type
|
Number
|
|
Euproops
|
4
|
|
Acanthotelson
|
9
|
|
Fish
|
1
|
|
Spider
|
2
|
|
Fish
scales
|
1
|
|
Gyromices
|
2
|
|
Bivalves
|
5
|
|
Total
|
24
|
|
Sept.
20
&
21
|
I
drove
to
Illinois
Clay Products Company, but Mr. Johnston could not let
me have the men and Jeep, and so I worked alone. In the A.M. I
went to Pig Pen on the northwest side [Locality
No.
4]. In the
P.M. I took the northeast side of Pig Pen [also Locality
No.
4].
Weather clear and rather warm. I worked until 7:00PM. September
21st, I spent all day on the southeast side of Pig Pen [Locality
No.
3]. Light rain at night. Day cloudy, slightly
cooler.
Two fine days, not cold at night. I worked until 7:00PM.
Flora
|
Attribute
|
Number
|
|
Large
|
107
|
|
Small
|
50
|
|
Total
|
157
|
|
|
|
Fauna
|
Type
|
Number
|
|
Euphoberia
|
1
|
|
Euproops
|
2
|
|
Fish
|
1
|
|
Gyromices
|
1
|
|
Acanthotelson
|
2
|
|
Fish
scale
|
1
|
|
Total
|
8
|
|
Oct.
1-4
|
I
went
down
with
the Whitfields. We called on the McClucki's and
John McClucki went out with us to the Outdoor Club reservation
[Locality
No.
26] in the A.M. October 2nd, we spent the afternoon
in the Odontopteris
site [Locality
No.
31] near the Sante Fe
tracks. Weather fine. October 3rd, I spent the day with the
McClucki's and took some of their specimens with me. October 4th,
I spent all day in the southeast Pig Pen site [Locality
No.
3].
Weather cloudy and misty, but OK.
Flora
|
Attribute
|
Number
|
|
Large
|
88
|
|
Small
|
100
|
|
Total
|
188
|
|
|
|
Fauna
|
Type
|
Number
|
|
Fish
|
1
|
|
Fish
scale
|
3
|
|
Paleocaris
|
1
|
|
Euproops
|
3
|
|
Bivalves
|
2
|
|
Total
|
10
|
|
October
13
|
The
John
McClucki's
of
Coal City spent the afternoon with me [at the Field
Museum].
|
Oct.
20
&
21
|
Eugene
Richardson
and
I
left for the mines. The Museum photographer had
made nine, 8 by 10 plates of John McClucki's specimens; we took his
specimens back to him in Coal City and then went to the Pig Pen
southeast [Locality
No.
3] where John McClucki and a Caveretta boy
joined us. Mr. McClucki took us into the Outdoor Club area
[Locality
No.
26 and Locality
No.
27] where we had a fine afternoon;
good weather, et al. All four of us had a fine time
collecting. October 21st, pouring rain at night; drizzle in the
A.M. for a time. We worked the southeast Pig Pen [Locality
No.
3]
for a time to 11:30AM; no rain, but everything wet; slim picking.
We left for the Field Museum at 11:30AM.
Flora
|
Attribute
|
Number
|
|
Large
|
159
|
|
Small
|
179
|
|
Caulopteris
|
3
(new)
|
|
Lepidostrophy
|
1
(new)
|
|
Hymemophylites
|
1
(new)
|
|
Total
|
343
|
|
|
|
Fauna
|
Type
|
Number
|
|
Fish
|
1
|
|
Fish
tooth
|
1
|
|
Fish
scale
|
3
|
|
Euproops
|
3
|
|
Bivalves
|
5
|
|
Paleocaris
|
1
|
|
Acanthotelson
|
1
|
|
Total
|
15
|
[unsigned, but in the handwriting
of] George Langford, Jr.
|