GeneralHave you ever heard of the “bone wars”?
They used every means possible to defeat each other in the quest for bones just short of crimes that would land them in jail. The universities evidently didn’t have the funds to pay for all of their expeditions so each of them funded their projects from their personal fortunes. In the end they were both penniless and discredited for their tactics; however, together they identified 136 new species of dinosaurs.
Below is a photo of Othniel Charles Marsh and his group of assistants taken in 1872 (courtesy of Wikipedia). Marsh is standing at the center with his rock hammer. His assistants also have a lot of hardware none of which is used for digging. All of this gives insight into what field collecting and prospecting was like in the late 1800’s.
There have been some excellent books written on the subject and I finished not long ago Dragon Teeth--a novel published posthumously by Michael Crichton that was a very fun read. What an exciting time for paleontology and what a bitter feud it was. I find the whole story fascinating and depressing at the same time! Thanks for sharing the photos! 
Reminiscent of another battle between two men of science- Tesla and Eddison the AC DC battle.
Interesting photos Larry And what a great middle name....Drinker. I've often said that I should have named one of my sons Thomas Rex Slaughter so that he could go by T. Rex Slaughter. Probably shouldn't father another just to use the name I suppose! I also noticed the word Drinker in his name and wondered if it was a noun or and ajective. There are several good non-fiction titles that deal with their competition, do an Abebooks search for "Cope, Marsh, bones" Tom 
There was a documentary aired in 2011 from the American Experience TV show on PBS : American Experience: Dinosaur Wars
(and there are still a lot of jacketed specimens in the museums basements) Looking back thru history of the American West including the gold and silver rushes, there are actually lots of these type events. After all, isn't claim jumping a variant on this theme. Two or more individuals/groups after the same limited riches, be they bones or valuable minerals. CHEERS.....BOB Dino Wars continues...just ask Pete Larson or other legitimate commercial collectors (Cope and Marsh's "academic credentials" woukd not fly for a minute today) about their battles with folks totally uninterested in the fossils...just in keeping someone else from excavating them before they're eroded away.
Today's academics cant get funding to exacavate (realistically...or anything else,) so they take a Dog in the Manger stance to prevent others from doing so.
Significant discoveries are made regularly in those old jacketed specimens. Given the advances in understanding dinos since C&Ms time...and how tens of new species emerge fromnthe Gobi annually, isn't it time to dig smart...again? Just look at the battle in recent times for the T. Rex "Sue".
In my younger days, my parents brought me to see these magnificent fossils at Yale's Peabody Museum. If you have not done so, the visit is well worth a plane ticket. Yes Peter,
There are still adversarial relationships between paleontologists and also between paleontologists and amateurs. The same thing exists in the field of archeology. The situation is complicated and strong arguments can be made on both sides. Amateurs have made many important discoveries that would have otherwise eroded away. There are many instances where professionals and amateurs have worked well together.
The Larsons were treated badly during the 10 year battle over Tyrannosaurs Sue. Neal Larson’s version of the story can be read starting here:
https://www.bhigr.com/pages/info/info_sue.htm
The good news is that the relationship between professional geologists and mineralogists and amateurs is very good. This is demonstrated over and over again on the Mindat forum where professionals treat amateurs with respect and encourage their participation. Professional geologists and mineralogists also recognize that the commercial collecting of minerals results in the preservation of exquisite specimens that would otherwise be lost. Fortunately there is a legal structure to accomplish this.
