Cherney Bison Site Fundraiser
About the Cherney Bison Site
Construction activity for a housing development at Coon Rapids, Minnesota uncovered a paleo-channel through an old peat bog.
The channel was literally packed with skeletons of now extinct Bison antiquus and Bison occidentalis. After discovering the bones, Pat and Rene Cherney approached the museum in Minneapolis, but they were "not interested."
The Cherneys and friend Gary Weston took it upon themselves as amateurs to salvage as much as they could during 1991-92 as bulldozers worked around the dig site.
By the time they were told "to move out" by the construction company in May of 1992, the remains of 50 skeletons had been recovered in an amazing feat of citizen science. In April, 1992 professor Richard S. White photographed the dig site and the collection.
In January 2025 professor White's research paper on the dig site will appear in the Fossil Record from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
About the Cherney Bison Build Project
The museum has enough bones from the Cherney Bison Site to build a Bison occidentalis skeleton. Bison occidentalis is an extinct species of bison that lived in North America, from about 11,700 to 5,000 years ago. With your help and donations, we can build a skeleton for display!
Fundraising
Help us build the Cherney bison skeleton and get a reward!
For a $300 donation receive a tooth from an extinct Bison occidentalis, carbon dated to 7,000 years ago. The tooth will arrive in its 'as dug' condition from the Cherney Bison Site, with dirt and debris, and includes a copy of the carbon dating data.
Make a $200 donation and receive a toe bone from an extinct Bison occidentalis, carbon dated to 7,000 years ago. The bone will arrive in its 'as dug' condition from the Cherney Bison Site, with dirt and debris, and includes a copy of the carbon dating data.
Please note: The supply of teeth and bones is limited.
Help us build the Cherney bison skeleton and get a reward!
Make a $200 donation and receive a toe bone from an extinct Bison Occidentalis, carbon dated to 7,000 years ago. The bone will arrive in its 'as dug' condition from the Cherney Bison Site, with dirt and debris, and includes a copy of the carbon dating data.
All proceeds go towards the funding of the Cherney Bison Site Fundraiser.
Please note: The supply of teeth and bones is limited.
One bone per $200 donation.
Help us build the Cherney bison skeleton and get a reward!
For a $300 donation receive a tooth from an extinct Bison Occidentalis, carbon dated to 7,000 years ago. The tooth will arrive in its 'as dug' condition from the Cherney Bison Site, with dirt and debris, and includes a copy of the carbon dating data.
All proceeds go towards the funding of the Cherney Bison Site Fundraiser.
Please note: The supply of teeth and bones is limited.
One tooth per $300 donation.
