Welcome to Chicopee Falls, home to an incredible bounty of underwater fossils! At this stop, you’ll hear from Paul Olsen, a paleontologist who shares his experience of examining one of Edward Hitchcock’s most unusual fossil finds, and diving for fossil fish in the falls. You’ll be inspired to search for your own revealing discoveries!
Location
42.16004, -72.58194
Directions
How to Get There
The dam where Paul Olsen found the fish fossils he talks about in the episode can be seen from the Deady Memorial Bridge. You can drive over the bridge and see the falls, or park on East Main Street and walk over. While you’re there, make sure you visit the canal trail, which passes alongside a canal that was present in Chicopee in Edward Hitchcock’s day.
Marshall: Hello dino track explorers! I’m Marshall.
Lindsay: And I’m Lindsay. Thanks for joining us on our Dino Map Adventure!
M: We’re the hosts of Tumble Science Podcast for Kids and we’re on a mission to share the incredible dinosaur history that happened right here in the Pioneer Valley. There is so much that scientists have discovered here — and so much left for YOU to discover along with us!
L: This stop will take you to Chicopee, where you’ll see where paleontologists pulled dino fossils out of a waterfall.
M: (Laughs) That’s pretty dramatic!
L: Yes!
M: Anyway, if you haven’t already, pause this audio to listen to our how-to track at the beginning of our dino map before you arrive. It will help you be prepared for what you’re about to experience! All right Lindsay, where are we heading now?
L: Well, we’re going to Chicopee Falls! And you’ll find that it might not be the most impressive waterfall you’ve ever seen, but it holds some pretty incredible mysteries under that rushing water.
M: Ooh, fossil mysteries?!
L: You got it. Chicopee Falls is actually a dam in the Chicopee River. The dam was built way back in 1823 to serve the mills along the river. You can see the falls from the sidewalk of the bridge. It’s a busy street, so when you’re out there, be careful. You can park in a commercial parking lot on either side of the bridge, and walk over to the falls.
M: So what kinds of fossils have been found in Chicopee?
L: LOTS of interesting fossils, old and new. For this segment, I talked to Paul Olsen, a paleontologist who is known for studying the Pioneer Valley. He’s one of the top experts in the region! And he told me that Edward Hitchcock, who was the first scientist to study dinosaur tracks, described another kind of dinosaur fossil from Chicopee.
Paul Olsen: One of the papers he wrote, and he wrote it with some other scientists at the time, was on a fossil poop that was found in Chicopee. And it was found at Chicopee Falls, in fact.
M: (Laughs) Oh Chicopee! This important scientist was writing about all kinds of things, and when he mentions you it’s about a poop!
L: Yes!
M: So how did he know it was poop and not just like a regular rock?
L: Well, Hitchcock knew because there were fossilized fish scales inside of the rock, like something had digested it and pooped it out.
M: (Laughs) Like corn bits!
L: But there was something that Hitchcock didn’t notice.
PO: But for whatever reason, he didn't notice that there are some teeth in the same rock.
M: Wait! There’s TEETH in the poop?
L: Yeah! Paul found them when he was studying this fossil poop for himself.
PO: And I was looking at this piece of poop, and think, what are those? Like, let's look closer, teeth and bones.
M: Okay so teeth and bones? Where’s he going with this?
L: Paul thinks these bones might be from reptiles.
PO: And there very few bones of reptiles from the Pioneer Valley. There are some very important ones, but very few. And that particular one is really, really interesting because you could probably get, if you can find the same layer, you can probably get more.
M: Oh so he’s saying that there’s probably more dino poop with bones out there in Chicopee?
L: Yes! Exactly. And Paul has also been to Chicopee Falls to do some new digging for himself.
M: Wait like digging in the water, in the river out there?
L: Yes.
PO: There's a layer that's completely submerged in the water all the time that has fossil fish in it there. And I wanted to sample that. I was there with a colleague of mine.
M: There’s fossil fish in there too?
L: Yep. There’s fish in those falls!
M: Wow!
L: But the water was a little bit too deep for him.
PO: Only the water was at a depth where I'd bend over. and if I put my arm down to sample to rock, my head was submerged and my back would bob up.
M: So he’s got his head underwater and his back is sort of floating? That sounds really uncomfortable.
L: It wasn’t a great situation. But he really wanted to get those fossils! Paul worked out a system with his colleague.
PO: So I had him stand on me and I'd pull on his pants when I wanted to get up.
M: I feel like this is a good time for us to say don’t try this at home kids! Or in the river, don’t try this!
L: Yes! You’re only looking from the bridge and trying to imagine Paul out there where you’re looking — pulling on another scientist’s leg! (Laughs)
M: “Let me up!”
L: And he didn’t have any special equipment, not even goggles.
PO: Just holding my breath and keeping my eyes closed too and hammering away underwater to try to get a sample of rock while he's standing on me.
M: I wonder if people passing by, what they thought was happening.
L: (Laughs) Yeah! So keep in mind, he is a professional paleontologist and he had gotten permission to dig in this spot. But he says there are other spots to explore these very same layers.
PO: There are multiple spots along the river that those same layers are exposed in Chicopee.
L: And it’s not just Chicopee that has fossils in the lower part of the Pioneer Valley.
PO: And then in Agawam as well, and West Springfield, there are multiple places. There are dinosaur footprints and fossil fish and plants and various crustaceans that are found along there.
M: Oh wow, that’s a lot of places with a lot of fossils to be found.
L: Yeah! If you listened to our podcast episode with Paul Olsen, the “seeing double” dinosaur track he describes is in the Springfield area.
M: It sounds like while some amazing fossils have come out of the falls, there’s a lot more to explore on your own.
L: Exactly.
M: Share what you find, using the hashtag #tumbledinomap! And if you need directions and activities, check out nepm.org/dinomap.
L: We’ll meet you at your next stop, dino track explorers!
Download the Dino Map Adventure and the Dino Adventure Journal.