Driving through the Great Plains one of the constant
features along the highway are the monster billboards highlighting local
features you are approaching (or at times still nowhere near), and one we were
desperate to visit was the Prairie Dog Town, whose numerous ads announced the presence
of a living 5 legged cow. 
Pulling off the highway and into the tiny town of Oakley we
could not miss the huge statue on the only high ground for miles. Riding his
favourite horse "Brigham" as he rides down a bison is the bronze
statue of Buffalo Bill. This is an unusual statue as walking up the crest of
the hill where it stands are numerous information displays and even short radio
announcements you can listen to about the Buffalo hunter and the history of the
region.
One of the smaller museums I was happy to find while
exploring the vast grasslands of the US was The Fick Fossil and History Museum,
which Wikipedia states: “is a museum that
displays large dinosaur fossils from Kansas, many old tools, mineral specimens,
and shell and mineral folk art.” Sadly this is not true, or at least was
not an accurate description during my visit. While the museum does display
fossils of many prehistoric creatures, nowhere do I recall seeing a dinosaur.
The Fink museum is located in the same building as the local
Oakley library, and was built after the town was given an unusual donation by
Ernest and Vi Fick in 1972 of a number of fossils and artworks - and strangely
a number of artworks containing fossils.
During the Late Cretaceous much of central USA lay under the
Western Interior Seaway, which created vast beds of chalk that so many of the world’s
most famous marine fossils were discovered lying within. Amongst the fish,
turtles, sharks and birds have been found long necked plesiosaurs and numerous complete
mosasaurs.
Because so many marine fossils are found around the region,
the Ficks collected some of the more common fossils and added them to their artwork.
Some of the landscape paintings they created contain hundreds of fossils; and
often these make up everything, including the trees my favourite by far is the
enormous shark made up from thousands of fossil shark teeth.
Also on display are is one of the world’s oldest known
mosasaur fossils, along with a 15 foot Xiphactinus Audax specimen that had been
prepared by well-known Kansas fossil-hunter, George Sternberg.
There are some items of interest not to be missed, including
the complete paddle from a Plesiosaur that may contain the evidence for why
only the paddle was found. Running across the large bones of the reptiles
flipper are a number of large grooves, believed to be from the teeth of an
attacking mosasaur.
As a local museum, many of the specimens were found and
donated by local residents, and the displays often proudly announce who found
the item and any story that went along with the fossil and its finder.
The Discover Oakley website points out it is not only
fossils that can be seen at the museum either. The display proudly: “houses
replicas of Oakley’s first Depot, a sod house, Prather’s Creamery, and Oakley’s
General Store. The museum also houses a large, impressive collection of rocks
and minerals from the Oakley area and around the world including the remains of
ancient tombs!”
...by the way, I never did get to see that 5 legged cow!
Entry is free- as for hours, it is likely bet to contact the museum to find out when it is open as it seems to have limited operational hours during winter.
the museum can be found at:
700 W 3rd St, Oakley, KS 67748, United States
