The picture above was taken in March of 1998. Yam (6), Spud (4) and I are standing (well, I am crouching) in an ancient creek bed near the Black Mesa in the Panhandle of Oklahoma. The Colonel is snapping the photograph.
The Colonel had just come home from a deployment and we wanted to take a family trip to see some of the sites that Oklahoma had to offer.
We had read that you could see dinosaur footprints near the Black Mesa, so we loaded up the Jeep and headed that way.
When we reached our destination we began searching for the ancient dinosaur footprints. We looked high and low. We couldn't see anything, yet the travel book we consulted said that there were indeed prints in this location.
The Colonel climbed a little ledge that was hanging over the creek bed and he immediately yelled to us that we were right on top of the footprints! From where Yam, Spud and I were, the footprints looked like puddles in the creek.
The tracks are preserved in the sandstone strata and were originally discovered in 1980s and contained 47 footprints. Due to erosion, only a third of the tracks are visible today.
Scientists were intrigued by two tracks in particular that were much deeper than the others and had a ridge. They believe that the dinosaur was walking on a mudflat area and slipped, leaving a telltale sign that has lasted for millions of years.
Although the exact species is not known, scientists have stated that the tracks came from a Theropod, which is a scientific classification for bipedal carnivorous dinosaurs including Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Yam and Spud liked seeing actual dinosaur footprints...so did The Colonel and I. What kid (young or young at heart) doesn't like dinosaurs?
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