North Dakota

A Mammoth May be Hiding Below a North Dakota Garage

Published

1 year ago

August 29, 2024

A Mammoth May be Hiding Below a North Dakota Garage

Grid lines were laid out for a potential fossil dig at a home in northwest North Dakota. Mammoth teeth were found 1988 while preparing the site for the construction of the garage at the right. (Photo courtesy of the North Dakota Geological Survey via the North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) -Some mammoth bones have been gnawing at North Dakota State Geologist Ed Murphy for more than 35 years.

Murphy on Tuesday described for the North Dakota Industrial Commission how he became aware of a find of mammoth bones in 1988. He updated the commission, which oversees the North Dakota Geological Survey, because his department, in cooperation with the State Historical Society, plans to excavate part of the site and may need to request money from the state to finish the job.

In 1988, Murphy said he received a report of a homeowner finding some woolly mammoth bones while digging a foundation for a garage in northwest North Dakota. Murphy did not disclose a more precise location of the find.

Ed Murphy, left, state geologist, speaks during a meeting of the North Dakota Industrial Commission next to North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring on Aug. 27, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

The family had already sent a couple of teeth to North Dakota State University to verify that they had come from a woolly mammoth, prehistoric beasts that lived in what is now North Dakota during the Pleistocene Epoch, commonly called the Ice Age.

Weeks later, word got to Murphy that teeth had been confirmed as coming from a mammoth and he went to the site the next day. But by this time, the foundation had been poured and the garage built.

Murphy said he asked the homeowner if he would be willing to have the garage moved and foundation busted up so there could be an archeological dig. Murphy said the homeowner was willing, as long as the garage was restored the next month.

But Murphy was not able to find the people or the money to make that happen.

In December, 35 years later, Murphy started going through his notes from that visit. After the holidays, he contacted the person who now owns the home and attached garage.

While the property had changed hands, the new owner knew people from the garage construction crew, who had shared that there may be a mammoth under the garage.

So it was not a big surprise when Murphy reached out. The homeowner agreed to a test dig near the garage. Murphy said the small pit revealed some bone fragments and pieces of tusk in the backfill for the garage slab. Digging a little deeper revealed three undisturbed bones.

Mammoth bone fragments were found during a test dig in May 2024 at residence in northwest North Dakota. (Courtesy of North Dakota Geological Survey)

Margaret Patton, a research archaeologist with the Historical Society, also used ground-penetrating radar at the site.

“It doesn’t make beautiful pictures,” Patton said of the radar, but it does detect anomalies, something different from the soil around it, that corresponded to where construction workers had reported bones being found.

Murphy said a crew will return to the garage for a larger dig — about 6 feet by 6 feet and down at least 30 inches — in mid-September.

“If they uncover a big rock, I’ll be sad, but I’m hoping that it really will be bigger mammoth bones,” Patton said.

Patton said the September dig should provide a better idea of the potential for the site and the potential cost. There may need to be a budget request for the Legislature when it meets in January so work can continue into 2025.

While there have been woolly mammoth tusks and other bones found in the state, “a skeleton or a nearly full skeleton would be a first” for North Dakota, Murphy said.

A mammoth bone is shown still embedded in the ground after a test dig in May 2024 at a residence in northwest North Dakota. (Photo courtesy of the North Dakota Geological Survey)

Several species of mammoth lived in North America, including the woolly mammoth and the Columbian mammoth, according to the North Dakota Geological Survey. They lived alongside other animals like saber-toothed tigers and giant sloths before going extinct in the area about 10,000 years ago.

In 2023, coal miners near Beulah discovered a 7-foot tusk of an ancient mammoth.

“There we had a beautiful tusk that was really in great shape,” Murphy said. In addition, 18 other bones or parts of bones were found.

Murphy said fossil bones like the tusk are soft and need to be encased in plaster to be safely removed. Then it’s a monthslong process to stabilize the fossil.

Murphy said he is hopeful for the new dig site, but there are no guarantees.

“It still will be a gamble of what’s under there,” he said.

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North Dakota

Iowa State wrestling rolls North Dakota State in Sunday road dual

Published

5 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Iowa State wrestling rolls North Dakota State in Sunday road dual

Iowa State wrestling left little to chance on the road against North Dakota State, rolling to a 36-3 win over the Bison on Jan. 11.

The Cyclones won nine of 10 bouts against NDSU, including two by major decision, two by technical fall and a win by fall for MJ Gaitan. Iowa State left the dual with four ranked wins as well.

The highlight bout of the dual was the opener at 125 pounds between Iowa State’s Stevo Poulin and No. 17 Ezekiel Witt. Poulin got a nice 7-1 win by decision over Witt, with a takedown into a two-point turn in the second period helping decide it. At 5-5 entering the dual, it was a good sign for No. 14 Poulin as he looks to get back on track.

Evan Frost earned the second ranked win of the day at 133 vs. No. 30 Tristan Daugherty. He walked away with a 9-0 major decision with two takedowns and a two-minute ride in the second period. Anthony Echemendia followed it up with a 21-6 technical fall vs. Michael Olson at 141.

To close the first half of the dual, Jacob Frost hung on for an 11-5 win by decision over No. 25 Max Petersen. Frost got out to an early lead with two takedowns in the first period, but had to fend off a late surge in the third period with a takedown to put the match away at 11-5.

Vinny Zerban had a nice bounce-back effort at 157, defeating former NCAA All-American Gavin Drexler at 157. After taking a loss earlier in the week vs. Arizona State, Zerban went wire-to-wire vs Drexler in a 12-5 decision and nearly had a major decision had he not conceded a takedown late in the third period.

Iowa State came out of intermission still rolling. Connor Euton earned a 11-2 major decision over Boeden Greenley at 165, followed by a win by fall for Gaitan at 174 over three-time Iowa state champion Max Magayna and a gritty 4-1 sudden victory for Isaac Dean over No. 26 Aidan Brenot at 184.

CJ Carter was unable to help secure a shutout win for ISU with a 10-4 loss by decision to Devin Wasley at 197, but Yonger Bastida ended the dual on a high note with a 19-4 technical fall over Shilo Jones. at heavyweight.

Iowa State moved to 6-1 in duals. Kevin Dresser’s team has the Cyclone Open up next on Jan. 18, but no dual until Jan. 23 vs. Northern Colorado.

Iowa State wrestling vs. North Dakota State results

125: Stevo Poulin (ISU) over Ezekiel Witt (NDSU) (Dec 7-1)
133: Evan Frost (ISU) over Tristan Daugherty (NDSU) (MD 9-0)
141: Anthony Echemendia (ISU) over Michael Olson (NDSU) (TF 21-6 4:11)
149: Jacob Frost (ISU) over Max Petersen (NDSU) (Dec 11-5)
157: Vinny Zerban (ISU) over Gavin Drexler (NDSU) (Dec 12-5)
165: Connor Euton (ISU) over Boeden Greenley (NDSU) (MD 11-2)
174: MJ Gaitan (ISU) over Max Magayna (NDSU) (Fall 1:39)
184: Isaac Dean (ISU) over Aidan Brenot (NDSU) (SV-1 4-1)
197: Devin Wasley (NDSU) over CJ Carter (ISU) (Dec 10-4)
285: Yonger Bastida (ISU) over Shilo Jones (NDSU) (TF 19-4 4:53)

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

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North Dakota

North Dakota HS Boys | Girls Basketball Scoreboard from Jan 10, 2026

Published

17 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

High School Basketball logo. Courtesy Midwest Communications.

North Dakota High School Boys | Girls Basketball Scoreboard from Jan 10, 2026

BOYS PREP BASKETBALL=

Alexander-Trinity Christian 81, Divide County 58

Beulah 55, Des Lacs-Burlington 26

Harvey-Wells County 61, Nedrose 51

Killdeer 54, Dunseith 52

Linton 75, Sargent County 32

Milbank, S.D. 64, Hillsboro-Central Valley 61

New Salem-Almont 71, Mandaree 32

Our Redeemer’s 89, Kenmare 32

Parshall 71, Trenton 70

Richey-Lambert, Mont. 57, Beach 55

Rothsay, Minn. 71, Richland 38

Shiloh 70, Oak Grove 59

Watford City 77, South Prairie/Max 64

Westby-Grenora 49, Savage, Mont. 40

White Shield 72, Strasburg 55

Dickinson Trinity Shootout=

Central McLean 70, Bowman County 54

Dickinson Trinity 63, Stanley 22

Wilton-Wing 70, South Heart 51

Ramsey County Tournament=

Championship=

North Star 65, Lakota/Adams-Edmore/Dakota Prairie 57

7th Place=

Warwick 72, Benson County 61

5th Place=

Carrington 53, Griggs-Midkota 45

3rd Place=

Devils Lake 73, Larimore 63

Stutsman County Shootout=

Drake-Anamoose 54, South Border 49

Glen Ullin 47, EKM 44

MPB 63, Washburn 59

Midway-Minto 61, Ellendale 53

Napoleon/G-S 53, Kindred 44

Oakes 69, Kidder County 39

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL=

Ashby, Minn. 65, Tri-State 49

Benson County 47, Hatton-Northwood 38

Dunseith 46, Killdeer 39

Ellendale 54, South Border 36

Flasher 42, New England 16

Garrison 54, Grant County/Mott-Regent 51

Kenmare 55, Our Redeemer’s 43

Kindred 70, Bottineau 21

Lambert, Mont. 52, Beach 50

Maple River 53, LaMoure 52

Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood 57, TGU 54

New Salem-Almont 67, Mandaree 44

North Prairie 67, Westhope 49

Park River 42, Griggs-Midkota 37

Richey-Lambert, Mont. 52, Beach 50

Rothsay, Minn. 65, Richland 32

Sargent County 55, Linton 48

Savage, Mont. 40, Westby-Grenora 33

Shiloh 56, Oak Grove 47

Sisseton, S.D. 66, Oakes 17

Strasburg 39, White Shield 30

Surrey 67, Larimore 38

Trenton 58, Parshall 40

Dickinson Trinity Shootout=

Central McLean 55, Bowman County 41

South Heart 45, Stanley 41

Sanford Pentagon Classic=

West Fargo Horace 70, Tea, S.D. 41

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North Dakota

Bankruptcies for North Dakota and western Minnesota published Jan. 10, 2026

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court

North Dakota

Kaitlyn Grace Lucier, Fargo, Chapter 7

Samuel Todd Hicks, formerly known as Thomas Samuel Hicks, Fargo, Chapter 7

Teresa and Dominik Renwick, Fargo, Chapter 13

Susan Renee Fuller, formerly known as Susan R. Schaffer, doing business as Susie’s Sparkling Cleaning Service, Fargo, Chapter 7

Shannon Lynn Taylor, Fargo, Chapter 7

Jesse Patrick and Jaime Elizabeth Brown, Williston, Chapter 7

Kerri Lee Weishaar, Minot, Chapter 7

Terry Marie Moritz, Valley City, Chapter 7

Joshua Allen Sewill, Hatton, Chapter 7

Bryan Eugene Flecker, Minot, Chapter 7

Anna Marie Rahm, formerly known as Anna Marie Tanner, and Joshua Edward Rahm, Bismarck, Chapter 13

Sherri Rae Fisher, Baldwin, Chapter 13

Heather Lynn McElroy, formerly known as Heather Anderson, Grand Forks, Chapter 7

Kaitlyn Autrey, Grand Forks, Chapter 7

Michelle Lynn Miller, Fargo, Chapter 13

Kimberly Georgeann Callahan, Fargo, Chapter 13

Erin Elaine and Jose Luiz Murphy, Bismarck, Chapter 7

Shelly and Kieth Quimby, St. Thomas, Chapter 7

Minnesota

Bankruptcy filings from the following counties: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail, Polk, Traverse, Wadena and Wilkin.

David Howard Gilpin, Osakis, Chapter 7

Timothy Virgil Hoag, Moorhead, Chapter 7

Jason Darryl Dykhoff, Ottertail, Chapter 7

Zachary Nicholas Hodgson and Jolynn Beth Warnes, formerly known as Jolynn Beth Hodgson, Kensington, Chapter 7

Riley Matthew Hinman, Alexandria, Chapter 7

Layne Christopher Condiff, Park Rapids, Chapter 13

Thomas Beecher Hoyer, Menahga, Chapter 13

Christine Karen Jakubek, also known as Cristine Anderson, Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is a petition to liquidate assets and discharge debts.

Chapter 11 is a petition for protection from creditors and to reorganize.

Chapter 12 is a petition for family farmers to reorganize.

Chapter 13 is a petition for wage earners to readjust debts.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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