From internet searches, the Graptolite specimens in this unidentified northern Utah shale appear to be of the Didymograptus genus, of the Ordovician Period. How I acquired my first Graptolites follows.
During the summer of 1974, my then-roommate (Dave) at Georgia Southern and I embarked upon a multi-week 8,800-mile road trip across the Western U.S. (the subject of an ongoing writing project - before we forget all of the details). The primary reasons were; 1) To buy Coors Beer, and 2) Visit Yellowstone National Park (as well as some other National Parks visited the year before with my family). Without delving into further details, at the time, Coors was only sold in 11 Western states.
During the summer of 1974, my then-roommate (Dave) at Georgia Southern and I embarked upon a multi-week 8,800-mile road trip across the Western U.S. (the subject of an ongoing writing project - before we forget all of the details). The primary reasons were; 1) To buy Coors Beer, and 2) Visit Yellowstone National Park (as well as some other National Parks visited the year before with my family). Without delving into further details, at the time, Coors was only sold in 11 Western states.
[Without realizing it, this 1974 road trip was a "watershed event", in that - at age 20 1/2 - it was my first "big journey" without my parents and it gave me the confidence to leave the Southeast and move to El Paso for graduate school in early-1977 and engage in future solo road trips.]
As Dave and I had to keep "an eye on the calendar" (we had to return to Statesboro, Georgia to begin our Junior year), there was a need to cover as much ground as possible on those days we weren't visiting relatives or National Parks. Thus Geology/Photo stops were kept to an absolute minimum. This was also necessary to "keep the peace" as Dave had no interest in Geology and Photography was only for taking scenic shots at National Parks and such. [I myself had not yet been "bitten by the photo bug". That being the case, asking to borrow my Dad's 35mm Minolta camera for the trip slipped my mind, to my eternal regret. We had to "make do" with a Kodak Instamatic.]
I have written elsewhere about the "angst of the traveling Geologist" (including here and here), not in reference to traveling for work, but when we travel by car on family vacations or road trips with non-Geologist friends (as was the case in 1974). As the hundreds of miles clicked away on the odometer in our 1968 Pontiac Catalina wagon, once every few days, I "had to stop" to satisfy my curiosity. [Another of my regrets is that I don't like keeping a diary or even a road travelog (though I have made some efforts towards keeping travel notes during my 2015 - 2017 western travels). When I did stop, it didn't occur to me to make note of landmarks or locations.]
After leaving Yellowstone National Park on U.S. Hwy 20, we passed through a small sliver of Montana, then on into Idaho, towards Idaho Falls and then Pocatello.
After leaving Yellowstone National Park on U.S. Hwy 20, we passed through a small sliver of Montana, then on into Idaho, towards Idaho Falls and then Pocatello.
On the previous year's family vacation, we had visited Salt Lake City and though it was off our planned route from Yellowstone towards southeast Oregon (then south into California), for some reason I wanted to revisit the Salt Lake City area. Though other details are forgotten, we headed south from Pocatello, Idaho on I-15. One of the times that Dave gave in to my sporadic requests to stop and look for fossils was somewhere on I-15 in northern Utah. I was desperate to find any fossils amidst the roadside shale outcrop and when I found the Graptolite slab, it was enough of a "Wow! moment" for me to be satisfied.
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