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Charles Hazelius Sternberg (June 15, 1850 – July 20, 1943) was an American
fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
collector and
paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
. He was active in both fields from 1876 to 1928, and collected fossils for
Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested ...
and Othniel C. Marsh, and for the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, the
San Diego Natural History Museum The San Diego Natural History Museum is a museum located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1874 as the San Diego Society of Natural History. It is the second oldest scientific institution west of the Mississippi and th ...
and other museums. The Sternberg family is legendary in the history of paleontology. Charles Hazelius was the patriarch, and his three sons, George F. Sternberg,
Charles Mortram Sternberg Charles Mortram Sternberg (1885–1981) was an American-Canadian fossil collector and paleontologist, son of Charles Hazelius Sternberg. Late in his career, he collected and described ''Pachyrhinosaurus'', ''Brachylophosaurus'', ''Parksosaurus ...
and Levi Sternberg were also professional fossil collectors. In 1908, the Sternbergs found a remarkable duckbill dinosaur mummy in the
Lance Formation The Lance (Creek) Formation is a division of Late Cretaceous (dating to about 69 - 66 Ma) rocks in the western United States. Named after Lance Creek, Wyoming, the microvertebrate fossils and dinosaurs represent important components of the late ...
of eastern Wyoming, the first such fossil found. After spirited bidding, the fossil was sold to the
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
.


Biography

Charles Hazelius Sternberg was born near Cooperstown, New York to Reverend Levi Sternberg and Margaret Levering Miller. At the age of 17, Sternberg moved to
Ellsworth County, Kansas Ellsworth County (county code EW) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the county population was 6,376. Its county seat and most populous city is Ellsworth, Ka ...
where his older brother, Dr. George M. Sternberg (1838–1915), worked as a military surgeon at Fort Harker and owned a ranch. Once there, Sternberg became interested in collecting fossil leaves from the Dakota Sandstone Formation. From 1875-1876, Sternberg studied at
Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...
under noted paleontologist
Benjamin Franklin Mudge Benjamin Franklin Mudge (August 11, 1817 – November 21, 1879) was an American lawyer, geologist and teacher. Briefly the mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts, he later moved to Kansas where he was appointed the first State Geologist. He led the f ...
, though Sternberg never earned a degree. In 1876,
Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested ...
funded Sternberg's first formal expedition to Park, Kansas, and Sternberg continued to work with Cope for several field seasons in the years that followed.Sternberg later collected fossils for Cope's rival in the
Bone Wars The Bone Wars, also known as the Great Dinosaur Rush, was a period of intense and ruthlessly competitive fossil hunting and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope (of the Ac ...
, Othniel C. Marsh, working alongside
John Bell Hatcher John Bell Hatcher (October 11, 1861 – July 3, 1904) was an American paleontologist and fossil hunter known as the "king of collectors" and best known for discovering ''Torosaurus'' and ''Triceratops'', two genera of dinosaurs described by O ...
in
Long Island, Kansas Long Island is a city in Phillips County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 137. History The first post office was established at Long Island in May 1872. Long Island was laid out in 1873. Geography ...
. Sternberg also collected for various museums and institutions, and his work took him all over North America, including locations in California, Montana, Texas, and Canada. Sternberg moved to
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
in 1921 and held the honorary title of Curator of
Vertebrate Paleontology Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct animals with vertebrae or a notochord. It also tries to connect, by us ...
at the
San Diego Natural History Museum The San Diego Natural History Museum is a museum located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1874 as the San Diego Society of Natural History. It is the second oldest scientific institution west of the Mississippi and th ...
. He continued to lead fossil-hunting expeditions throughout North America and sold his specimens to museums and universities world-wide. Sternberg's final expedition was to the Baja Peninsula in 1928. After his wife's death in 1938, Sternberg moved in with his son Levi Sternberg in
Toronto, Canada Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, where he lived until his death aged 93. Sternberg wrote two books about his paleontological adventures: "The Life of a Fossil Hunter" (1909) and "Hunting Dinosaurs in the Badlands of the
Red Deer River The Red Deer River is a river in Alberta and a small portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a major tributary of the South Saskatchewan River and is part of the larger Saskatchewan-Nelson system that empties into Hudson Bay. Red Deer River ...
, Alberta, Canada: A Sequel to The Life of a Fossil Hunter" (1917).


Personal life

Sternberg married Anna Musgrave Reynolds on July 7, 1880. One son died in toddlerhood, and their only daughter died at age 20 in 1911. Three sons survived into adulthood, George F. Sternberg (1883–1969),
Charles Mortram Sternberg Charles Mortram Sternberg (1885–1981) was an American-Canadian fossil collector and paleontologist, son of Charles Hazelius Sternberg. Late in his career, he collected and described ''Pachyrhinosaurus'', ''Brachylophosaurus'', ''Parksosaurus ...
(1885–1981), and Levi Sternberg (1894–1976), who also had careers in
vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
paleontology. They became famous for their collecting abilities and many discoveries, including the " Trachodon mummy", an exquisitely preserved specimen of ''
Edmontosaurus ''Edmontosaurus'' ( ) (meaning "lizard from Edmonton") is a genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) dinosaur. It contains two known species: ''Edmontosaurus regalis'' and ''Edmontosaurus annectens''. Fossils of ''E. regalis'' have been found in rocks ...
annectens'' (see
hadrosaurid Hadrosaurids (), or duck-billed dinosaurs, are members of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. This group is known as the duck-billed dinosaurs for the flat duck-bill appearance of the bones in their snouts. The ornithopod family, which inclu ...
). Son George was also a noted fossil hunter famous for finding a "fish within a fish" — a ''
Xiphactinus ''Xiphactinus'' (from Latin and Greek for " sword-ray") is an extinct genus of large (Shimada, Kenshu, and Michael J. Everhart. "Shark-bitten Xiphactinus audax (Teleostei: Ichthyodectiformes) from the Niobrara Chalk (Upper Cretaceous) of Kansas. ...
'' which had inside it a nicely preserved, '' Gillicus arcuatus''. Charles Sternberg was a deeply religious man. He wrote devotional poetry and published a collection of poems called ''A Story of the Past: Or, the Romance of Science'' (1911). In his old age, he would visit the
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
to view his finds, and one visit to the "Trachodon mummy" inspired the following quote:


Sternberg Museum

Fossils collected by Charles Sternberg, including dinosaurs from the western United States and Canada, are in museums around the world. Many of the fossils discovered by Charles Sternberg's son, George F. Sternberg, are on display in the
Sternberg Museum of Natural History Fort Hays State University (FHSU) is a public university in Hays, Kansas. It is the fourth-largest of the six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents, with a total enrollment of approximately 15,100 students. History FHSU ...
in Hays, Kansas.


In popular culture

*In
Robert J. Sawyer Robert James Sawyer (born April 29, 1960) is a Canadian science fiction writer. He has had 24 novels published and his short fiction has appeared in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'', ''Amazing Stories'', '' On Spec'', ''Nature'', and numerou ...
's novel ''End of an Era'' (1994), the Canadian protagonists'
time machine Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
is named ''His Majesty's Canadian Timeship Charles Hazelius Sternberg'', because of the two scientists journeying back to the
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
era, one is a paleontologist. The narrator comments that "our timeship is almost universally known as the ''Sternberger'', because to most people it looks like a fat
hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically Ground beef, beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles ...
." *
Tim Bowling Tim Bowling (born 1964 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Guggenheim winning Canadian novelist and poet. He spent his youth in Ladner, British Columbia, and now lives in Edmonton, Alberta. He has published four novels. He was a judge for the 2 ...
's novel ''The Bone Sharps'' (2007) centres about the fossil-hunting work of Charles Sternberg in Kansas, in 1876 and 1916. Secondary characters are Sternberg's young assistant, Scott, who served in the trenches of World War I; another bone hunter, Scott's fiancee (1916) and possibly widow (1975), Lily; and Charles Sternberg's deceased daughter, Maud; as well as
Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested ...
and Cope's wife Annie. *In ''
Dragon Teeth ''Dragon Teeth'' is a novel by Michael Crichton, the eighteenth under his own name and third to be published after his death, written in 1974 and published on May 23, 2017. A historical fiction forerunner to ''Jurassic Park (novel), Jurassic Par ...
'' (published posthumously in 2017),
Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...
's novel about the
Bone Wars The Bone Wars, also known as the Great Dinosaur Rush, was a period of intense and ruthlessly competitive fossil hunting and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope (of the Ac ...
, Cope is a
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
and Sternberg a supporting character.


References


External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sternberg, Charles Hazelius 1850 births 1943 deaths American paleontologists Natural history of Kansas Amateur paleontologists Kansas State University alumni