Elmer Samuel Riggs

1869 - 1963  (94 years)  Submit Photo / Document

• Name	Elmer Samuel Riggs
  Born	23 Jan 1869	Indiana
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	After receiving bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Kansas and worked with the American Museum of Natural History. In May 1898 he joined the staff of the Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois. (Then the Columbian Museum) He was the museum's first paleontologist. Although his specialty was in fossil mammals, the Field Museum hired him to secure dinosaurs for exhibit.
  		Elmer-Riggs Elmer Riggs (left) and Harold W. Menke in the Paleontology lab of the Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois. 1899
  		Elmer Samuel Riggs Elmer Samuel Riggs with a brontotherium skull. The brontotherium was a type of primitive rhinoceros.
  Died	25 Feb 1963	Bartlesville, Washington/Osage, Oklahoma
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I63471	Nagel
  Last Modified	10 Mar 2022

  
  

  Father	Harvey Riggs,   b. 17 Apr 1831, Nineveh, Johnson, Indiana ,   d. 2 Jan 1911, Pierce County, Washington  (Age 79 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Ann Jane Middleton,   b. Aug 1834, Ireland ,   d. 1907  (Age ~ 72 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Married	26 Apr 1856	Johnson County, Indiana
  Family ID	F19534	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Helen Rhoda Mosher,   b. 2 Nov 1869, Saint Albans, Franklin, Vermont ,   d. 20 Oct 1906, Lawrence, Douglas, Kansas  (Age 36 years)
  Last Modified	10 Mar 2022
  Family ID	F19544	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 23 Jan 1869 - Indiana Died - 25 Feb 1963 - Bartlesville, Washington/Osage, Oklahoma  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos		Elmer Samuel Riggs Elmer Samuel Riggs
  		Elmer Samuel Riggs Elmer was the first paleontologist to work for the Field Museum in Chicago. On July 4, 1900 Riggs' assistant, H. William Menke, discovered first known skeleton of the giant sauropod dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax from near Grand Junction, Colorado. At the end of the 1900 field season Riggs' found a specimen of Apatosaurus near Fruita, a few miles from the Brachiosaurus site. In 1903 Riggs was the first to describe the find and he gave it it's name. Brachiosaurus altithorax; the generic name is Greek for "arm lizard", in reference to its proportionately long arms, and the specific name means "deep chest". It was put on display at the Field Museum in 1908. Riggs was also among the first to realize that the Brachiosaurus was terrestrial. However the opinion that it was an aquatic animal was the most accepted opinion until the 1970s, when the idea was revisited by Robert Bakker. The photo is an all-weather replica created in 1999. It sits outside of the Field Museum. The replica was made from casts of dinosaur bones found on Riggs field expeditions.