Waco Has a National Monument With Mammoth Fossils

In 1978, two Waco residents found a bone in a ravine near the Bosque River. Staff at Baylor University looked at it and said it came from a Columbian mammoth. Over the next several decades, digs at the site found at least 24 mammoths, a Western camel, and other Ice Age animals. Nineteen of the mammoths were part of a nursery herd — females and young animals that died together.

President Obama made the site a national monument in 2015. He used the Antiquities Act to do it. This is the only place in the nation where a Columbian mammoth nursery herd has been found. The monument is at 6220 Steinbeck Bend Drive in Waco. It is open daily. Admission is $6 for adults. Check the NPS website for current hours and fees before you visit.