the life and legend of george mcjunkin franklin folsom

Death Īt his death, McJunkin was buried at the Folsom Cemetery in Folsom, New Mexico.Although their total numbers in New Mexico were never large, blacks arrived with Spanish explorers and settlers and played active roles in the history of the territory and state. McJunkin's discovery of the Folsom site changed New World archaeology, as it showed that people had inhabited North America since at least 9000 BCE, some 7000 years earlier than previously thought. Giant Bison of the type McJunkin found had gone extinct at the end of the last Ice Age proof of a human kill established the antiquity of North America's native cultures. But a thorough excavation did not occur until 1926, after McJunkin's death. In 1918 he sent sample bones and a lance point to the Denver Museum of Natural History, who sent paleontologist Harold Cook during the following spring, and he and McJunkin did some exploratory digging. For several years he tried to interest archaeologists, with little success. Recognizing the significance of the find, McJunkin left the site undisturbed, except for recovering a few sample points. Among the bones of the bison was a distinctive type of stone tool, now called a Folsom point. While patching fence, McJunkin entered an arroyo where he discovered remains of several giant prehistoric bison, exposed where the flood had deeply eroded the arroyo bed.

Discovery of Folsom site Īfter the flood of Augwhich killed 18 people in Folsom, McJunkin assessed damage at the Crowfoot Ranch. In 2019, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. He became foreman of the Crowfoot ranch near Folsom, New Mexico. He was also reported to be an expert bronc rider and one of the best ropers in the United States. McJunkin became a buffalo hunter and worked for several ranches in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.

In 1868, McJunkin arrived in New Mexico and became a foreman on the Thomas Owens Pitchfork Ranch. McJunkin taught himself to read, write, speak Spanish, play the fiddle and guitar, eventually becoming an amateur archaeologist and historian. He reportedly learned how to read from fellow cow punchers. Born to slaves in Midway, Texas, McJunkin was approximately 9 years old when the Civil War ended.

The life and legend of george mcjunkin franklin folsom