HAGERMAN, Idaho — Long before the Snake River lived between farmland and small towns in southern Idaho, the Hagerman Valley was home to saber-toothed cats, mastodons, 100-pound beavers, Hagerman Horses, among many other extinct creatures.

Remains of these animals, and the many others, make Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument one of the richest fossil sites in North America.

“We have the world's largest deposit of Pliocene fossils,” said Park Ranger Francisco Hernandez. “So these are fossils that represent time on Earth, right before the classic Ice Age starts.”

The federally protected site spans more than 4,000 acres, about a six-mile stretch near the Snake River. The site was officially established as a monument in 1988, but its discovery goes back to 1928, when a local farmer nam

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