Local makes December discovery
Washburn woman makes historic find in county
BY ANIKA ROVIG
REPORTER
The passion was evident when speaking with Jeanette Reim about her findings in early December. The Tennessee native has been perusing the grounds of the earth for years.
“At an early age I would go out in the fields in Tennessee after they plowed and would pick up arrowheads along the creek,” Reim said. This passion Reim obtained at a young age followed her throughout college and adulthood, studying archeology in California and eventually obtaining a biology degree as well.
Reim and her husband were out on their land in McLean County one day in December when she stumbled upon her discovery.
“We just happened to see some bones sticking out and of course I collect every single bone I find on my property, but this bone was broken pretty badly so I thought ‘I’m gonna pass it up’. But when Reim circled back something told her to pick it up and as she did she realized she had found something special.
Initially Reim had thought she’d recognized the bone from similar discoveries, “this was not a bone that was easily recognized as being part of a bison or a pronghorn or anything modern,” Reim said.
Unsure of what it was Reim set out on a mission to figure out exactly what she had found.
Getting a few cold shoulders and a couple hesitations on Reim’s credentials she found herself leery about talking to a professional about her findings.
“I didn’t want to be belittled because I didn’t have some fancy degree,” Reim said
Reim started looking at local museums to see if she could find something that looked similar because all she had now was something she thought looked like a tetrameryx. Essentially an ancient pronghorn that has never been found in North Dakota before.
After hanging on to the unknown artifact for a few months Reim decided to reach out to a friend who happened to be one of the youngest paleontologists in the world. Getting good feedback from him about the discovery he tells Reim to get it checked out in the museum in Bismarck.
Still leery of talking to any professionals Reim entered the situation cautiously yet prepared. After getting a warm welcome she decided to make an appointment to show them what she had discovered
