Dippy’s story began with his namesake — Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie was a philanthropist who made his fortune in Pittsburgh’s steel industry and founded Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Inspired by his ardent belief in evolution, Carnegie financed an expedition to find a dinosaur for Pittsburgh.
Museum director William J. Holland organized the expedition to the American west in 1899. After three months of searching, a team member discovered a huge toe bone at Sheep Creek, Wyoming. Further digging led to the discovery of a massive, long neck dinosaur later identified as a sauropod.
The news broke, and before he was even excavated, Dippy was a celebrity. Visitors thronged to the site in Wyoming, which was dubbed “Camp Carnegie.” After the sufficient collection of Dippy’s bones, boxes were constructed, and the bones were sent back to Pittsburgh in 130 crates. Dippy took up a whole boxcar on his trip back to Pittsburgh!
This is the first in a three-part blog series about Diplodocus carnegii, aka Dippy. We are celebrating all things Dippy as we launch our new logo featuring his silhouette. Share your own Dippy photos and stories using #newdippylogo.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History Blog Citation Information
Blog author: Carnegie Museum of Natural HistoryPublication date: January 5, 2017
