Noel: Official state fossil was bone of contention for kids, lawmakers

Saturday, September 23, 2006

On a field trip in 1937, a Cañon City high school science class found a nearly complete stegosaurus skeleton. Today you can see it on display at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

A Thornton fourth-grade Colorado history class saw this monster at the museum in 1980 and thought that it would make a swell state symbol. Their teacher at McElwain Elementary, Ruth Sawdo, helped them campaign to get "Steggy" named the official state fossil. That meant, she told the students, that they had to convince Colorado lawmakers to vote for their idea. So the students wrote letters to legislators, asking them to make the stegosaurus a new state symbol.

Not many states had state fossils, but not many states have found as many dinosaur bones as Colorado. The students designed posters, T-shirts, and bumper stickers with a cartoon Steggy labeled "Original Colorado Native." They argued that the state should recognize that dinosaurs were here before any people and they also wrote speeches to give to state representatives and senators.

One student's mother, Polly Baca Barragan, was a Colorado state senator. Sen. Baca-Barragan presented the students' idea to the other lawmakers in 1981. The solons were then encouraged to ponder the issue and vote. Many of them did not think having a state fossil was important, so the students' idea never came up for a vote.

The fourth-graders did not give up. By the time the lawmakers met again, these now-fifth-grade students convinced the new fourth-graders to join their campaign. Now there were twice as many kids working for a state fossil.

They wrote more letters to the lawmakers. They met with Colorado Gov. Richard D. Lamm in his office at the state Capitol and gave him a Steggy T-shirt. The governor was impressed with their hard work and encouraged them to keep trying. He told the kids that it often takes senators and representatives a long time to recognize and vote for a good idea.

McElwain students also recruited fourth-graders studying Colorado history in other schools to join the crusade. By the time the state fossil idea was presented to the lawmakers again in 1982, 337 students in grades four, five, and six were fighting for Steggy.

To lobby the legislators, the McElwain students drew a cartoon of Steggy as a waiter. They used that to invite lawmakers to a free lunch. A model stegosaurus with a "Native" sign around its neck greeted the guests at the school's main entrance. So did students dressed in Steggy costumes. The lawmakers dined on the very best school lunch - roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, JELL-O salad, and a special stegosaurus cookie. While they ate, students talked to them about why they should vote for a state fossil.

Despite the lobbying lunch, legislators again failed to vote on a state fossil.

Then Gov. Lamm decided to take matters into his own hands. He wanted the students to see that people, even kids, could get things done in state government. On Aug. 28, 1982, the governor visited McElwain Elementary. He told the students he had signed an order making stegosaurus the official state fossil of Colorado.

At last, their pet prehistoric behemoth would be recognized, the governor promised. Steggy's picture would appear on the back of state highway maps with the other symbols. Dinosaurs, the governor noted, would help to bring many tourists, as well as locals, to Colorado's dinosaur museums, excavation sites, trackways, and recovery sites.

A quarter-century later, Lamm reflected on one of the happiest highlights of his three terms (1975-1987) as a very popular, progressive governor.

"The dinosaurs in the legislature finally rose to the occasion and ultimately sanctioned the stegosaurus as the Colorado state fossil. They showed a bunch of talented, persistent kids that democracy really works. Everybody won. The state of Colorado. The kids. And the dinosaurs."

Reach Tom Noel at www.coloradowebsites.com/dr-colorado.