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INTRODUCTION Years ago, I spent countless pleasant hours recording my grandmother’s stories about traveling the Texas Hill Country. My grandparents, Joe and Laurie Sanders, enjoyed many Sunday drives. During the course of poring over scads of mementos and photographs with my grandmother, a strange and amazing snapshot surfaced. A single tri-toed track evoked curiosity and wonder. The distinctive print (that I would one day know as a theropod footprint) conjured images of a giant lizard or bird. My grandmother told me about this dinosaur souvenir and how, in the summer of 1929, she and Joe journeyed north to Glen Rose in Somervell County to see the tracks of these ancient creatures. Decades later her recollections and a few images chronicled that memorable tour. She, then a young woman of twenty-six, posed with Joe in the Somervell County countryside. They were a youthful couple of the 1920s taking part in the increasingly popular practice of the day—the scenic motor trip. Her account of their grand adventure stayed with me and roared back to life when in 2004 I began researching and writing this book’s genesis, a history report of Dinosaur Valley State Park for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. My husband Gary and I traveled to Glen Rose just as my grandparents had done seventy-five years earlier. We cruised through Somervell County’s rugged terrain—what I call the “Northern Hill Country”—and tromped along the Paluxy River in the footsteps of the dinosaurs. The Paluxy riverbed shares its ancient tracks with wide-eyed children and curious adults who wade the sparkling waters and skip from stone to stone in search of treasures that hint of a long-ago landscape. The fossil prints’ remarkable tales have drawn international attention. The Paluxy Valley, relatively young in terms of geologic time, harbors a legacy of cedar hills, rolling prairies, and clear streams no less significant and colorful than the world of the dinosaurs. Water sculpted this territory and attracted settlement. The earliest inhabitants camped at cool springs, and Spanish and French explorers found a region that thrived as a crossroads of trade. Pioneers homesteaded and farmed along the Paluxy. Schoolchildren played games, splashed in the local swimming hole, and traipsed down country lanes to their homes. Families nurtured a sense of community and preserved a heritage that survives today. Many warmhearted people welcomed me in the course of my research, and they shared their stories—memories that bring the history of this land to life. Their words and photographs paint the character of Somervell County and contribute to a fascinating blend of agriculture, science, business, and recreation. The history of the Paluxy River Valley indeed has many layers for the people who made their lives here. Memories linger in the canyons and trace the stony tracks in the stream, connecting the ancient to the present in Dinosaur Valley State Park. ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people, institutions, and archives contributed invaluable information, illustrations, and insightful anecdotes for this book. I am most grateful to everyone who provided assistance. Thank you to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for the opportunity to work on this project. TPWD furnished helpful guidance, especially Cynthia Brandimarte, Historic Sites Program Director, Austin; Michael Strutt, Cultural Resources Director, Austin; Billy Paul Baker, Park Superintendent at Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose; Diane Dismukes, Cultural Resources Specialist, Whitney, Texas; David Riskind, Natural Resources Director, Austin; Mike O’Brien, Exhibits Sculptor, Austin; Aina Dodge, Marni Francell, Margaret Howard, Logan McNatt, Amy Ringstaff, and Shirley Monagas, Austin. I also extend my deepest thanks to the paleontologists and geologist who advised me in regards to the scientific studies and terminology of this history: James O. Farlow, Department of Geosciences, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne; Louis Jacobs, Shuler Museum of Paleontology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas; James Diffily, formerly of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. I am very grateful to Donald W. Olson, professor of physics at Texas State University-San Marcos, for his careful editing of my drafts as well as his scanning of illustrations. Thanks to the staff of the following research institutions and offices: Albert B. Alkek Library, Texas State University-San Marcos; American Museum of Natural History, New York; Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin; Dallas Morning News; Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose; Glen Rose Reporter, Glen Rose; Heritage Museum of the Texas Hill Country, Canyon Lake, Texas; LDL Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose; Sinclair...

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