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Lot
49105

WILLAMETTE METEORITE - THE LARGEST COMPLETE SLICE OF THE MOST FAMOUS METEORITE IN THE WORLD. Iron - IIIAB . Oregon, Un...

2012 October 14 Natural History Signature Meteorite Auction - New York #6089

Sold for: Not Sold Not Sold
Auction Ended On: Oct 14, 2012
Item Activity: 0 Internet/mail/phone bidders Number of Bidders
2,372 page views
Location: Ukrainian Institute of America at The Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion
2 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075

Description:
WILLAMETTE METEORITE - THE LARGEST COMPLETE SLICE OF THE MOST FAMOUS METEORITE IN THE WORLD
Iron - IIIAB
Oregon, United States - (45° 22'N, 122° 35'W)

An extremely noteworthy offering, here is an opportunity to acquire the largest complete slice of a centerpiece exhibit at a world-renowned museum - specifically the largest slice of the Willamette meteorite at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. It is believed that Willamette, the largest North American meteorite, fell in Canada or Montana untold millennia ago and was a glacial erratic (i.e., it was deposited in Oregon by glacial activity during the last Ice Age). Willamette was discovered in 1902 by an ambitious miner named Ellis Hughes, on property owned by Oregon Iron & Steel adjacent to his own. The 15.5 ton meteorite was ingeniously moved by Hughes onto his property over a period of months, where it was then exhibited to curiosity-seekers for a fee. Unfortunately for Hughes, one of his customers - an attorney from Oregon Iron & Steel - noticed the groove through the forest from where it had been hauled. Oregon Iron & Steel sued to have the meteorite returned and, after being awarded possession, exhibited the meteorite at the 1905 World's Fair in Chicago. It was then sold to Mrs. William E. Dodge, who gifted the meteorite to the American Museum in New York - where the meteorite has been on display for 104 years.

Its tenure there has been far from quiet. In 1990, tens of thousands of Oregonian schoolchildren signed petitions to have the meteorite returned to Oregon. A bill was proposed in the U.S. Senate in support, and an Oregon congressman even proposed withholding federal funding earmarked for the Museum until the meteorite was returned. The adults pressing for Willamette's repatriation were convinced to end the schoolchildren's civics lesson and discontinued their efforts. In 1999, controversy arose yet again when a coalition of Oregonian Native Americans filed a claim to have the meteorite returned to Oregon by invoking the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). According to Clackamas Indian tradition, the meteorite, called "Tomanowas", was delivered from the Moon to the Clackamas from the beginning of time, and carried messages from the spirit world. The Museum responded with a lawsuit in federal court, and as part of a settlement, it was decided the meteorite would remain a Museum centerpiece and never again be cut. The complete slice offered here - which bears an uncanny semblance to a coyote baying at the...asteroid belt, from where it originated - is the largest complete slice of that will ever exist of the most famous meteorite in the world. 271 x 254 x 3mm (10.66 x 10.00 x 0.1 inches) and 526.17 grams (1.2 pounds)

Provenance: American Museum of Natural History, New York City

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