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The Remains of a Mammoth Exhumed

About This Item

  • Title: The Remains of a Mammoth Exhumed
  • Date: 2 April 1858
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: per.00649
  • Source: Brooklyn Daily Times, 2 April 1858: 2. Our transcription is based on a digital image of a microfilm scan of the original issue. Microfilm of original issue held at Pennsylvania State University Libraries. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the journalism, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Editorial note: This piece is unsigned, as was the case for most of Whitman's journalism. However, this editorial is part of a series of texts that deal with a coherent theme that has been identified by the Whitman Archive journalism team as likely authored by Whitman. This decision is based on a combination of historical and (auto)biographical accounts, similarity to contemporary Whitman writings, a history of scholarly attribution, extant clippings retained by Whitman, computational stylometric analysis, and, in some cases, manuscript evidence in Whitman’s hand.
  • Contributors to digital file: Jeff Hill Samantha Gilmore Kaylen Michaelis Kevin McMullen Karie Cobb
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "The Remains of a Mammoth Exhumed." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 16 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: per.00649.xml (TEI)
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THE REMAINS OF A MAMMOTH EXHUMED.—1

The workmen employed by the Brooklyn Water Works Company, while engaged yesterday in excavating the upper part of Baisley's mill-pond,2 about two miles below Jamaica, came upon the remains of some vast animal which have caused no little speculation among the citizens of that place. The bones are of immense size, very much decayed. Pieces of rib bones were found measuring nine inches broad. Four teeth were brought up to Jamaica for inspection, one measuring 17½ inches around, with roots 6½ to 7 inches long, and, although partially decayed at the roots, weighing 3¾ pounds. Our informant saw one said to be the smallest; it was nearly square, measuring 4½ inches by 3½ inches, serrated, partly worn. It is hoped that this notice will induce some scientific person to proceed to the spot and examine these remains. There are four or five wagon loads of bones lying exposed, and crumbling rapidly since exposure to air.—[Evening Post.

"Our informant," of course, has no desire to place "some scientific person" in the position of April Fool. Oh, no.

Notes:

1. The discovery of the mastodon occurred around March 27, 1857. It was recorded in the New York Tribune on April 9, 1858, reprinted in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on April 10, 1858, and mentioned in another article in the same paper on June 30, 1858. It is likely that Whitman penned this last Eagle editorial. [back]

2. Baisley's Pond was a major supply reservoir for the Brooklyn Water Works located in what is today the borough of Queens. It was a former mill pond, named after its owner David Baisley, who had sold it to the local water authorities in 1852. It was also occasionally referred to as Baisley's Pond, Jamaica Pond, or Rider's Pond. For a period in 1857, it housed a team of engineers, including Walt's brother Thomas Jefferson Whitman ("Jeff"). [back]

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