Como Bluff

Code words were even used to describe bones, to describe locations, and to describe the state of the fossils.

In 1877, at Como Bluff, Union Pacific Railroad worker William Harlow Reed and William Edwards Carlin discovered large dinosaur bones eroding from the hills near the railway.

Realising they'd found something quite valuable, they wrote anonymously to Marsh using false names, claiming to represent local ranchers who'd discovered an extraordinary fossil deposit.

The deception was deliberate.

Marsh immediately recognized the importance of the discovery and secretly negotiated payment for exclusive collection rights.

Once contracts had been arranged, Reid became one of Marsh's most productive fossil collectors, excavating hundreds of specimens over the following decades.

When Cope eventually learned of Como Bluff, he attempted to establish his own collections nearby, leading to years of direct competition over the same fossil beds Throughout the Bone Wars, both scientists attempt to recruit one another's collectors.

Experienced fossil hunters were invaluable because of their understanding of how to recognise fossils in the rocks, the fossil-bearing rocks themselves, and excavate the fragile bones, and transport the specimens over hundreds of kilometres of difficult terrain.