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Paleo Park is the end result of a dream that Leonard and Arlene Zerbst had long ago. You see, the ranch that Paleo Park is settled on was home steaded by Leonard's Grandfather in the late 1800's. The first dinosaur was taken off the ranch in 1908. Throughout the years, Paleontologists have been coming to the ranch to prospect and excavate numerous dinosaurs. Leonard and Arlene along with their two children (Tom and Kristen) would spend lazy afternoons looking for fragmented bones, teeth, or the "big one". One day in the mid 1990's the couple were out prospecting and came across a bone sticking out of the ground. After a little digging they realized that they had something big and called the guys at the BHIGR in Hill City, South Dakota. They came and everyone helped to excavate a Triceratops that they promptly nicknamed "Kelsey" after their first grandchild. That day a tradition was set into motion by finding a dinosaur and naming it after all their grand kids. At the time there were only two grandchildren and they knew that they could find another. A couple years went by and Leonard and Arlene thought about building a lodge and letting fossil hunters of all kinds come out and get a chance to find a 65 million year old bone. As the saying goes, "build it and will it come". Well in deed the Zerbst family started making plans to build a bunkhouse to house guests and showcase all the things that they had found so far. During this time they came across another dinosaur while prospecting. This dinosaur was another Triceratops but this one had skin impressions with it! What a great find. Into the books this dinosaur goes given the name "Lane" after the second grandchild. On August 23rd of 1999 the plans for Paleo Park became altered but not stopped. Leonard was diagnosed with stage 3 esophageal cancer. Their youngest child Kristen who was living in Iowa with her husband Chad, moved home. With the assistance of Arlene, Tom, Kris and all their family, neighbors and friends Paleo Park was whipped together and finished. After a tough fight, Leonard passed away in May of 2000. Although he didn't get to see the first tours, he was able to see the Paleo Park lodge up and already knew what an impact Paleo Park would have on everyone young and old. Tours began the summer of 2000 and here we are still going strong. On an average year there are about 200 visitors walking through the doors of Paleo. The Paleo crew is always ready to do a little prospecting and look over all the stuff already found. Now with two other grandchildren time is ticking to fill the Paleo Park pages with their own nicknamed dinosaur. Hopefully soon maybe this tour or the next we will find "Wyatt" or "Jaden"! - When breezes blow and rustle your hair Please smile inside and know that I am there - This website is dedicated to the memory of Leonard A. Zerbst Some sites that you might find interesting www.bhigr.com Black Hills Institute of Geological Research www.trib.com/NEWCASTLE Newcastle Chamber of Commerce www.trib.com/WCTRAVEL Weston County Travel Commission www.projectexploration.com Project Exploration http://luskwyoming.com Lusk Chamber of Commerce www.childrensmuseum.org The Children's Museum of Indianapolis http://flyingvcambriainn.com The Flying V Cambria Inn www.luskherald.com Lusk Herald Newspaper http://legendofrawhide.com The Legend Of Rawhide Yahoo! |
| "Great place, Great people. Thank you" Bob - Arkansas |
