Perry’s Pond On October 16, 1963, Judge Joseph Samuel Perry's was having a pond in his backyard excavated or dug out. As the workers were digging, to make the pond, they found a large, 42-inch bone! This was big news because not every day do people find a 42 inch bone in their backyard. The digging had to stop and experts from the Field Museum in Chicago and Wheaton College were called in. Click to keep reading.

Everyone agreed that this bone was an important find so the bone was taken to Wheaton College in nearby Wheaton, Illinois to be examined. The geologists at Wheaton College determined that bone belonged to a mastodon!geologistsmastodon Wheaton College

The discovery of the mastodon bone made Joseph Perry decide to give Wheaton College permission to continue excavating or digging on the site. The digging was then done by hand so the machines would not destroy any of the old bones. This was important so the scientists could look for more bones and preserve the bones properly. Geologists from the college eventually found more than 100 of the mastodon's 211 bones. They even found the complete skull with well-preserved teeth.

Geologists carefully restored and reassembled the mastodon skeleton, and a model of it is now on display at Wheaton College's Armerding Hall. Anyone who wants to see it can go to the college and look at the creature that was found right here in Glen Ellyn in Perry’s Pond. It was a huge, amazing animal. If you go to Wheaton College to see Perry’s Mastodon, you will see that the display rotates in a circle. On one side you can see just the skeleton of the mastodon, and on the other side you can see what scientist think it looked like with fur and skin.

In 1995 the DuPage County Forest Preserve purchased most of what was Judge Perry's 10- acre property. The property is now preserved as a wetland for animals that live in the area. Perry’s Pond is now part of the Forest Preserve of DuPage County, and the land will be kept as open space so that no houses, businesses or roads can be built on it. acre

A mastodon was a pre-historic animal that roamed North America long ago during the Ice Age. Mastodons, along with mammoths, are related to modern elephants. As adults they stood between 8-10 feet at the shoulder and weighed between 4-6 tons. Mastodons became extinct approximately 11,000 years ago. Mastodons were not alive during the time of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs lived many thousands of years before the mastodons were here. This is what scientists think a mastodon looked like. Click on the star to go back to the story.

A Geologist is a person who studies the earth, its rocks and minerals. They do more than just name rocks and dig up fossilized bones, geologists help us better understand the past. This is a photo of one of the geologist from The Field Museum in Chicago who came to help work on the careful removal of the bones from Perry’s Pond. Click on the star to go back to the story.

An acre is a way to measure land. It is about the size of a football field. If you have been to a high school track, it is about the size of the inside of the track. An acre is shown by the blue space in the football field picture below. Click on the star to go back to the story