Waco Mammoth National Monument — Waco
Mammoth bone bed · found 1978 · Waco, Texas
Photo: Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0), as published on Street Art Utopia.
Waco Mammoth National Monument in Texas protects a bone bed where a nursery herd of Columbian mammoths died together more than 65,000 years ago. In 1978 Paul Barron and Eddie Bufkin were looking for arrowheads and fossils near the Bosque River when they found a large bone and took it to Baylor University. Since 2015 it has been part of the National Park System, and some skeletons can be seen where they lie in the dig shelter. Source Source Source Checked
Standing Jul 2025: KWBU reported on 16 July 2025 that the monument marks ten years in the National Park System, with an average of 84,000 visitors a year. Source Reported
💡 4 things to know
- Out looking for arrowheadsIn 1978 Paul Barron and Eddie Bufkin were looking for arrowheads and fossils near the Bosque River when they found a large bone. Source Source Checked
- A nursery herd19 of the mammoths belonged to a nursery herd of females and young thought to have died in one natural event more than 65,000 years ago. Source Checked
- Bones under a shelterA dig shelter opened in 2009 lets visitors see skeletons in the positions where they were found. Source Reported
- Ten years as a national park unitIt joined the National Park System on July 10, 2015; in July 2025 KWBU reported an average of 84,000 visitors a year since then. Source Reported
📍 Where it is
Waco Mammoth National Monument, near the Bosque River in Waco, Texas, USA. Source Checked
The map opens at the monument. The skeletons are inside the dig shelter.
🗓️ Sightings
- 1978
Barron and Bufkin find a large bone near the Bosque River
- 2009
Dig shelter opens over the bone bed
- 201321 Aug
Mammoth W photographed in the dig shelter (camera date)
- 201510 Jul
Becomes a unit of the National Park System
- 202516 Jul
KWBU marks ten years as a national site
Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports. Publication dates are not camera dates.
🗞️ In the sources
Waco Mammoth marks 10 years as a National Site amid budget uncertainty
“In the summer of 1978, two locals went searching for arrowheads along the banks of the Bosque River.”
✅ The facts
- Found
- 1978, by Paul Barron and Eddie Bufkin: spring per the National Park Service, summer per KWBU. We lean to the park service’s spring, since it is the site’s official history; KWBU’s report says only “summer.” Source Source Conflicting
🔗 Related
- Found by Accident (11 Photos) — Street Art Utopia, where the photo above appeared.
- All Artwork Files
All sources & image credits
- National Park Service history page
- National Park Service — NPS Geodiversity Atlas
- Mayborn Museum, Baylor University — Baylor’s Mayborn Museum
- Wikipedia — Reference article
- KWBU — Waco Mammoth marks 10 years as a National Site amid budget uncertainty — 16 July 2025
- Wikimedia Commons — Photograph of the skull of mammoth W in place in the dig shelter at Waco
- Hero image: Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0), as published on Street Art Utopia; a 16:9 share image was made from it with blurred sides.
Last checked: 8 November 2026 · How we verify art