Not so long ago, large creatures roamed the Pullman area. Formidable beasts journeyed through the plains of the Palouse during the last Ice Age.
Fossils of mastodons, distant mammoth relatives, were found a few hours from Seattle, according to Washington State Magazine. At the site in Sequim, WSU professor Carl Gustafson uncovered evidence humans hunted the giant beasts: a spear tip embedded in a fossilized rib. Gustafson’s finding revolutionized the timeline of human presence in North America, revealing humans arrived in North America at least 800 years earlier than previously thought.
Gustafson’s discovery remains one of the most significant in WSU history. He also unearthed mammoth bones in central Washington, according to the Seattle Times. After nearly 40 years of teaching, Gustafson retired from WSU in 1998. He passed away in 2016, leaving a legacy of mammoth proportions. You can visit the Conner Museum on the ground floor of Abelson Hall to see a fossilized mammoth femur and mastodon teeth in person.