Former CSC professor Dr. Larry Agenbroad dies

 Agenbroad came to Chadron State in January 1967 as the college’s first earth science professor, shortly after earning his doctorate at the University of Arizona. He remained at CSC through May 1978, when he accepted a similar position at Northern Arizona University at Flagstaff.

He was the principal investigator of two important paleontological sites in this region—the Hudson-Meng Bison Kill Site northwest of Crawford and the Hot Springs Mammoth Site in South Dakota.

Both attracted national and even international attention from the scientific community and became leading tourist attractions.

In October 1999, Agenbroad was the only American among the group of scientists who chopped a woolly mammoth from the Siberian permafrost and transported it virtually intact and still frozen by helicopter to a Russian ice cellar for future study. He was widely quoted in news accounts of the experience, the first of its kind.

Agenbroad, who was born and raised on a farm in Idaho, began excavation of the Hudson-Meng Site in 1971 and led excavations there for five summers. During that period, the fossilized bones of about 400 bison and approximately 30 spear points, butchering tools and scrapers were discovered. Carbon 14 dating determined that the site dates back to 7845 BC, or nearly 9,850 years ago.

The site actually was “discovered” about 35 years earlier by rancher Albert Meng, who leased the pasture from the U.S. Government. Bill Hudson, a Crawford businessman, mayor and amateur archaeologist, was instrumental in getting Agenbroad involved in the investigation.

The work was supported by three National Science Foundation grants totaling $26,000 and drew the attention of publications such as Reader’s Digest and National Geographic. The site was frequently referred to as “Nebraska’s first butcher shop.”

In 1974 while he was still involved with Hudson-Meng, Agenbroad was contacted by Dan Hanson, one of his former CSC students, about the discovery of a large bone on the southern edge of Hot Springs. This led to the development of the world-famous Hot Springs Mammoth Site under Agenbroad’s direction.

Nothing like it before or since has ever been found. Although the bone bed is now located on a hill, scientists believe about 26,000 years ago it was a sinkhole that became a massive graveyard for the giant pre-historic elephants and other animals as they came to drink. It is estimated that at least 100 mammoths perished in the pit, making it the largest accumulation of Columbian mammoths ever discovered in their primary context.

An attractive 20,000-square foot cathedral-type structure that serves as a visitor center, museum and enclosure for the bone bed was built in the mid-1980s at a cost of $700,000. It hosts some 100,000 visitors annually. The Mammoth Site was designed as a National Natural Landmark in 1980 by the Department of Interior.

Agenbroad also was involved in the investigation of several other paleontological sites in the western United States.

Chadron State presented an honorary doctorate to Agenbroad during commencement in December 2002. He was the first former CSC employee to receive the honor.

After retiring from Northern Arizona in 2003, Agenbroad and his wife Wanda built a home in Hot Springs. He is also survived by two sons, Brett and Finn, and their families.

A memorial service for Agenbroad is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Mueller Civic Center in Hot Springs.