NEWSLETTER
A Talk by Mary Ellen Matise
Newburgh, NY (March 25, 2026) - In 1799 unusually large bones and teeth of an animal resembling an elephant were discovered at a Montgomery, NY farm. Mary Ellen Matise, the Montgomery Town Historian, will tell the story of this discovery of mastodon bones and the efforts to dig them from the ground. The talk, “The Orange County Mastodon” will be at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site on Saturday, March 28 at 1pm.
When artist and naturalist Charles Willson Peale, known for his portraits of founding fathers like George Washington, heard about the Montgomery bones he rushed to purchase them and get permission from the farmer to dig for more. For years he had sought a complete mastodon skeleton that he could display at the museum of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. The Montgomery mastodon dig would go on to yield a near-complete specimen and his techniques would be known as the cornerstone of American paleontology and inspiration for the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
The public are invited to this free talk held in Washington’s Headquarters museum building, located at 84 Liberty St., in Newburgh. For more information visit parks.ny.gov.
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Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site is a registered National Historic Landmark. It is located at the corner of Liberty and Washington Streets within the city of Newburgh's East End Historic District. The site is one of 35 historic sites within the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and is one of 28 facilities administered by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in New York and New Jersey. For further information contact: (845) 562-1195. For more information about New York State Parks, please visit our website at www.parks.ny.gov. For more information call 845-562-1195 or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/washingtonsheadquarters
Palisades Parks Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that preserves and protects the Palisades Interstate Parks and Historic Sites through raising funds, advocacy and supporting programming. Find us at: www.palisadesparks.org or call us at 845-202-3195. Palisades Parks Conservancy, P.O. Box 513, New York, NY