Local paleontologist recalls dig for Scotty the T-Rex 25 years later

“That when things started shaking,” Schutte said. “We were so excited about that and right then and there the idea of how much work it was going to take came crashing down on us.”

Twenty-five years later, Schutte – who works mornings on 1050 CJNB – and his colleagues involved in the dig for Scotty the T-Rex gathered in Eastend this past weekend to celebrate the discovery that kicked off a new and exciting time in Saskatchewan paleontology. Scotty is the largest T-Rex to be found to date.

“It was amazing,” Schutte recalled of the dig. “They say government works slow, but in this instance, it worked fast.”

Following the discovery in April, permission and funding was in place to open the camp on June 14. Schutte worked on the site for the first year in 1994. The final blocks of bone were removed in 1998.

Grant Schutte and Scotty the T-Rex at the discovery centre in Eastend. (supplied/Grant Schutte)

After opening up the query to dig, serrated teeth the size of bananas were unearthed alongside pieces of the skull and spinal column. Every time the team thought the quarry was empty, they would find more bones going further back into a hill they had to cut down.

The found treasures were removed in large chunks and drug out by whatever worked, be it a tractor or even horses. The blocks were taken back to the lab and cut open and scraped to remove the dirt from the bones.

During the first year of the dig, the news found its way into papers from Tokyo to London. Around 6,000 people visited the site that summer, Schutte said. Eager tourists from Japan and even teachers from South Korea arrived to marvel at the marquis find.

“It was amazing and it changed a lot of people’s lives and changed the community too,” he said. “It gave them something they could latch on to in terms of having a premier exhibit at the fossil research station.”

Schutte said over the last quarter-century, he, at times, had to sit back and work to comprehend the gravity of the find and the wider impact on the province.

“Saskatchewan was the buzz in ’94,” he said. “And now, not only [is Scotty] the largest in the world, Eastend got a fossil research station, which wasn’t on the books beforehand. That makes employment and tourism and helps solidify the life of the community and the word went out all over the world.”

Schutte found himself involved with the endeavour after finding his way into the lab after volunteering at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum for a handful of years. He was working morning radio at the time in Regina at 980 CJME.

WHAT’S IN A NAME

The name Scotty came about during a night of drinking in one of the tents, Schutte said. One evening, he and the team were trying to settle on a name. He said Tokaryk was spitballing an array of Latin names long enough to scare children.

“No one will want to visit this,” Schutte said with a laugh.

As they were sipping scotch, Schutte pitched Scotty and after an awkward pause among those in the tent, everything thought it was a great idea, despite the fact Scotty is female.

“She’s not the only dinosaur in the world named after scotch,” Schutte added.

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tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr

by Tyler Marr

Local paleontologist recalls dig for Scotty the T-Rex 25 years later

WHAT’S IN A NAME

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