T. rex Discovery Centre celebrates anniversary of finding Scotty

It has been almost 35 years since a Saskatchewan high school principal made an accidental discovery in southwestern Saskatchewan that would help reshape the province’s understanding of its prehistoric past.

On Aug. 16, 1991, Robert Gebhardt joined Royal Saskatchewan Museum paleontologists John Storer and Tim Tokaryk on a prospecting expedition in the Frenchman River Valley near Eastend.

The group was searching for fossils of any size, not specifically a Tyrannosaurus rex, when Gebhardt noticed a large vertebra partly exposed in an eroded channel.

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“I knew it had to be something from quite a long time period ago, as opposed to present creatures such as horses and cows and bison, because it was just that much larger,” Gebhardt recalled.

He knew he had found a large fossil, but it was Storer and Tokaryk who understood the potential significance of the discovery.

“I called Tim and John over, and they’re the ones that attempted to control their excitement about it all because they probably recognized right away that it was a T. rex, whereas I just knew it was a big bone,” Gebhardt said.

The fossil was collected and the location was marked, but further work at the site had to wait three years.

The specimen uncovered there would eventually become known as Scotty, the world’s largest T. rex.

Gebhardt, who worked as a science teacher and principal rather than as a paleontologist, describes the discovery as a matter of luck.

“I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” he said. “I usually liken it to, you can be walking along and you’ll suddenly find a toonie on the ground. Well, if you hadn’t looked down at the right time, you would have missed it.”

Thirty-five years later, the T. rex Discovery Centre in Eastend is marking the anniversary with its annual Scotty’s Unearthed Day celebration on Sunday.

The event will include cupcakes, dinosaur cookies and a Scotty-themed scavenger hunt, with a dinosaur-themed gift basket available as a prize.

Gebhardt will also be at the centre sorting through microfossils and speaking with visitors about the discovery.

He said watching Scotty go from a vertebra in the ground to the full-sized skeleton mount now displayed in Eastend has been “similar to watching a child grow up.”

The discovery also helped bring attention to Saskatchewan’s fossil record, created opportunities for young people and contributed to the development of the T. rex Discovery Centre.

“From that one little lucky find, this whole procedure, the whole storyline has unfolded, and it pleases me to no extent,” Gebhardt said.

He now volunteers at the centre several weekends each summer, sorting tiny fossils from collected material and interacting with visitors.

Jen Best, visitor experience supervisor at the T. rex Discovery Centre, said Scotty’s Unearthed Day is typically one of the centre’s busiest events.

“We get tons of people coming from Cypress Park, all through the Eastend community, from Regina, from Shaunavon, all over the place,” Best said. “It’s always a huge day for us here.”

Visitors can take guided or self-guided tours, examine fossils through the Paleo Lab Experience and watch students piece together fossil specimens.

The centre also offers a children’s activity room with a stop-motion movie station, colouring and reading areas. During the celebration, children can request to paint a replica dinosaur tooth.

Two films will be shown throughout the day: one telling the story of Scotty’s discovery and the documentary T.REX.

This year, the centre also unveiled two life-sized Thescelosaurus casts in its Cretaceous gallery.

The small herbivores walked on two legs, measured about 3.5 metres long and lived in the region during the late Cretaceous period.

Visitors can also explore hiking trails around the centre and the Frenchman River Valley, along with an outdoor fossil-dig area and play space.

Best said visitors should plan to spend at least two hours at the centre if they want to experience everything it offers.

Scotty’s Unearthed Day takes place Sunday at the T. rex Discovery Centre at 1 T. Rex Drive in Eastend.

The centre is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Labour Day.