Finder's Keepers...Loser's...Federal Government Seizes? (Elizabeth Muscari p6)

Archaeological finds take years. Sometimes, the discoveries are small breakthroughs that often go over looked, however; for Peter Larson, his rare find of an almost complete skeleton of a dinosaur in 1990, was certainly caught by the eye of the wrong people, the government. Larson had permission to dig on Maurice William’s ranch in South Dakota in 1990. Williams was given $5,000 as a reward for her generosity and hospitality once the skeleton was found. Larson was nonetheless excited to have unearthed the most complete skeleton in archaeology, until the federal agents showed up claiming Larson had stolen it from federal land. The government seized the skeleton, robbing the Black Hills Institute paleontology team of their historical feats and pride. By 1993, the grand jury had loaded up the skeleton and charged Larson with 153 charges including money laundering and fossil theft. As a result, Larson served 18 months in federal prison while Sue, the dinosaur, remained in plastic bags, unseen and unnoticed. There is a happy ending for both Larson and the dinosaur now. While Larson didn’t get to decide where Sue was displayed, he said he was glad she is now being shown at the Field Museum in Chicago.

I think this is a perfect example of how the government can have too much possession or use their ability to take away things from people to benefit them, not the people who found them. It relates to how in the Great Depression, the banks took a lot of businesses and seized people’s homes. For Larson, he had no reason for it to be taken away considering all of the charges were against him and NOT the dinosaur. In my opinion, one’s work is not to be toyed or taken away from by the government simply because it was found on the property owned by the federal government. As the old age saying reminds us, finder’s keepers. 

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/11/us/dinosaur-fossil-tyrannosaurus-rex-sue/