THE HISTORIC COLLECTIONS OF MELVIN S. ASHWILL: PRESERVING THE LEGACY OF AN AWARD-WINNING AMATEUR COLLECTOR AT JOHN DAY FOSSIL BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (JODA) was established in 1975 to preserve and promote Cenozoic paleontological remains. For the last century, the John Day Basin has been renowned for paleobotanical research- on paleoclimatic transitions, ranging from subtropical forests of the Eocene, the boreal forests of the Oligocene, to the warm-temperate forests of the middle Miocene Climatic Optimum. However, the paleobotanical collections at JODA lack samples from many of the most important time periods. The Ashwill Collection, donated in 2005, provides an opportunity to fill gaps in the prehistoric floral record of the region and give paleobotanists and park visitors new insight into Oregon’s past climate and habitats.  

Melvin S. Ashwill was a noteworthy amateur collector who spent many years examining fossil floras in Oregon. His publications in ‘Oregon Geology’ contributed to many paleobotanists’ understanding of climatic and floral changes that occurred in the northwestern United States during the Cenozoic. In addition to research, Ashwill assisted many geology graduate students with field work and instilled a love of geology and fossils in hundreds of regional schoolchildren. For these and many other accomplishments, Ashwill was presented with the Harrell L. Strimple award from the Paleontological Society in 1991. The Ashwill Collection, now housed at JODA, consists of several hundred macrofloral specimens from over twenty localities across the John Day Basin and surrounding areas, and span nearly 45 million years (early Eocene to Pleistocene).  

A Geoscientist-In-The-Park was staffed at JODA in 2016 to ensure proper curation of the Ashwill collection. Specimen identifications have been confirmed, and where necessary, updated. The entire collection has been catalogued, allowing long term preservation and future access for study. The project also continues Ashwill’s legacy of public outreach by providing online resources for the public, including digitized-specimens and an ESRI® story map that documents Ashwill’s field work and collections.