Charles Hazelius Sternberg

Charles Hazelius Sternberg was born on June 8, 1850, in Otsego County, New York, and moved with his family to Kansas in 1867. His interest in fossils was sparked by reading the works of Edward Drinker Cope, whom he later met and corresponded with. Sternberg began collecting fossils in the chalk beds of western Kansas in the 1870s, initially selling specimens to Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, the two rival paleontologists of the Bone Wars. His early finds included important marine reptiles and fish from the Niobrara Chalk, such as plesiosaurs and the giant fish Xiphactinus. These specimens helped establish the rich fossil record of the Western Interior Seaway.

Sternberg's most celebrated discoveries came from the Cretaceous deposits of Alberta, Canada, where he worked extensively from 1912 to 1917. He uncovered several nearly complete dinosaur skeletons, including the duck-billed dinosaur Edmontosaurus and the horned dinosaur Chasmosaurus, which were shipped to the British Museum and other institutions. His meticulous field techniques, including the use of plaster jackets for protection, set standards for vertebrate paleontology. He also collected Permian fossils in Texas, including the sail-backed synapsid Dimetrodon, and his work contributed to understanding early terrestrial ecosystems. Sternberg's collections enriched the American Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of Canada, and the University of Kansas.

Sternberg's three sons—George, Charles Mortram, and Levi—became accomplished fossil collectors in their own right, continuing the family's contributions to paleontology. George Sternberg discovered the famous Chasmosaurus belli in Alberta, while Charles Mortram Sternberg became a respected paleontologist with the Geological Survey of Canada. The Sternberg family name is honored in the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas, which houses many of their specimens. Charles Hazelius Sternberg continued collecting into his eighties, publishing his autobiography, Life of a Fossil Hunter, in 1909. He died on July 20, 1943, in Toronto, leaving a legacy of thousands of specimens that remain central to paleontological research.

Beyond his famous dinosaur finds, Sternberg collected a remarkable array of fossil plants and invertebrates, often overlooked in accounts of his work. He was one of the first to use photography to document excavation sites, providing a visual record that was rare for his time. Sternberg also faced financial hardships, often selling specimens at low prices to support his family, and he worked for several years as a commercial collector for the British Museum. His correspondence with Cope and Marsh reveals the competitive and often contentious nature of 19th-century paleontology. Sternberg's field notes and diaries, preserved in archives, offer valuable insights into the practical challenges of fossil hunting in the American frontier.

Niobrara Chalk

A geological formation in Kansas known for its Late Cretaceous marine fossils.

Plaster jacket

A protective casing made of burlap and plaster used to safely transport large fossils.

Synapsid

A group of animals that includes mammals and their extinct relatives, such as Dimetrodon.