Left Alone: Priceless Dinosaur in Utah Sat Out In The Open For Over a Century

Not long after Brigham Young arrived in Utah, an explorer found a dinosaur skeleton lying partially exposed in the Southern Utah landscape. These valuable bones stayed there for 166 years with only the occasional visitor.

The Initial Encounter Goes Back to the 1800s

These dinosaur fossils were first discovered in 1859 by Strong Newberry who was surveying the land for the U.S. Army. The problem was the bones lay exposed on a steep cliff that he couldn't get to at the time.

The Dystrophaeus is a long neck dinosaur. dottedhippo

The dinosaur is the Dystrophaeus, a kind of sauropod, and is the oldest of its kind ever found. This priceless find sat there in the sun for all those years after its original discovery. It was only visited occasionally by researchers using climbing gear.

Behind the Scenes: A Look at the Impressive Expedition

Earlier this year, a team from Utah decided it was time to bring the dinosaur in. They accomplished it using climbing equipment and a helicopter. It gained national attention and even the Explorer's Club out of New York became a part of it.

You can see what it took to get the bones off of the mountain in the video. It is an impressive expedition. Now the fossils are available to be studied by researchers in Utah.

Read More: 4 Warnings from Birds That Tell You Utah is in for Crazy Weather

It makes you wonder how many dinosaur that would make you famous or rich are sitting exposed and waiting to be discovered. With flash floods carving out dry washes and exposing new layers, it might be worth taking a look around.