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A traveling exhibit at the Washington Pavilion features a replica of Sue the T. rex.
A traveling exhibit at the Washington Pavilion features a replica of Sue the T. rex.
Sue the T. rex replica measures 42 feet long and is 17 feet high at her highest point. © The Field Museum
Sue the T. rex replica measures 42 feet long and is 17 feet high at her highest point. © The Field Museum
Sue the T. rex replica measures 42 feet long and is 17 feet high at her highest point. © The Field Museum
Sue the T. rex replica measures 42 feet long and is 17 feet high at her highest point. © The Field Museum
There are nine hands-on stations to learn about Sue’s eyesight, movement and sense of smell. Interactive pod 1, 'What a Find.' © The Field Museum
There are nine hands-on stations to learn about Sue’s eyesight, movement and sense of smell. Interactive pod 1, "What a Find." © The Field Museum
Interactive pod 2, “Maybe Sue Played the Accordion?” © The Field Museum
Interactive pod 2, “Maybe Sue Played the Accordion?” © The Field Museum
Interactive pod 4, 'This Tail was a Tool.' © The Field Museum
Interactive pod 4, "This Tail was a Tool." © The Field Museum
Interactive pod 7, 'Solved and Unsolved Mysteries of T. Rex.' © The Field Museum
Interactive pod 7, "Solved and Unsolved Mysteries of T. Rex." © The Field Museum
Interactive pod 8, 'A View of Sue.' © The Field Museum
Interactive pod 8, "A View of Sue." © The Field Museum
Interactive pod 9, 'Meet Sue Face to Face.' © The Field Museum
Interactive pod 9, "Meet Sue Face to Face." © The Field Museum
A 23-minute film in the Wells Fargo Cinedome depicts Sue growing from a hatchling to a 7-ton ferocious beast.
A 23-minute film in the Wells Fargo Cinedome depicts Sue growing from a hatchling to a 7-ton ferocious beast.

Sue's Back in South Dakota!

Oct 28, 2013


 

The saga of Sue the T. Rex began in the summer of 1990 when a team from Black Hills Institute hunted fossils near Faith. While the rest of the crew went to town for a truck repair, Sue Hendrickson discovered the first of the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found. 

Ried Holien wrote about the dramatic story that followed in our May/June 1999 issue.

Pete Larson, BHI’s director, took the specimen, nicknamed Sue (in Hendrickson’s honor), to Hill City to clean, strengthen, and prepare the bones for display. Two years later, after the Institute had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless man-hours in Sue, Federal agents seized the fossil and arrested Larson.

Sue was found on land the Institute believed belonged to rancher and Cheyenne River Sioux tribal member Maurice Williams, who had given them permission to dig. In fact, the land was held in federal trust for Williams. Technically that made Sue government property, and gave federal agents the power to seize the fossil. It also was their justification for initiating a massive criminal proceeding against Larson and the institute.

After a lengthy trial, Larson served 19 months in federal prison. He was released in September 1997, only to find that the dinosaur was on the auction block. Sotheby’s sold Sue in October for $8.36 million. She debuted at Chicago’s Field Museum three years later.

Folks have the opportunity to see the controversial skeleton this winter in Sioux Falls. A replica of the ancient bones is part of an exhibition called “A T. Rex Named Sue” at the Washington Pavilion through January 5. A major renovation of the Pavilion’s 4th floor was completed to accommodate the enormous bipedal carnivore and create room for future traveling exhibits. Sue is 42 feet long and 17 feet high at her highest point. “The tail meets the ceiling almost,” says Erica Lacey, Kirby Science Discovery Center Director at the Washington Pavilion. “It needed every inch.” 

Along with the replica, there are nine hands-on stations to learn about Sue’s eyesight, movement and sense of smell, and a 23-minute film in the Wells Fargo Cinedome called Waking the T. Rex. “The exhibits help you understand as a whole how she lived when she was alive,” Lacey explains. “It also allows us to bring out some of the walking demonstrations we already had on hand related to our Stan the T. Rex permanently on exhibit in the third floor gallery.”

“A T. Rex Named Sue” opened on September 21. “We’ve seen toddlers and adults all come through and enjoy it,” Lacey says. There have been moments of nostalgia for some as they remember the media attention surrounding Sue’s discovery. “For those people to be able to pass it on to their children and family members has been very precious.”

Comments

07:08 am - Tue, July 8 2014
Cullie Hecht said:
I am native of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and would like to know where Sue is now. Do you still have a replica of her bones on display at the Washington Pavilion? I went to high school there, class of '76
07:23 am - Wed, July 9 2014
Rebecca said:
Hi Cullie. It was only there for a temporary visit until the beginning of January 2014.
06:36 am - Wed, May 15 2019
Josh Hasselgren said:
Thank you Pete Larson for everything. Sue belongs with you! Maurice Williams is a thief.
05:41 pm - Sun, May 9 2021
It’s disgusting to see how the government handled this case. Also Maurice William’s was not a trust worth man. They gave him a check with what they was purchasing written on it. Did he give them the money back.? He sold it for a Hugh fortune. For him it was all about the money. I truly hope that Karma bites each and every person involved in this deceitful way that they treated the black hill institution. So many care only about the money. It provides to everyone how deceitful are government really is. They’ve only gotten worse with time.
02:07 pm - Sun, June 13 2021
Joseph A Almont said:
Hi I'm a native of sioux falls and I've seen Sue at the Pavillion. I hope someday the real one will be back home where she belongs in South dakota. The government needs to quit being so grabby and just taking what they want.
01:06 am - Tue, July 20 2021
Faye Hardin said:
Congratulations Sue, Pete Larson, and South Dakota. May Judge Richard Howard Battey, Kevin Schieffer and Maurice Williams burn in hellfire for eternity!
05:51 pm - Mon, July 25 2022
J. Dasnoit said:
Just watched the documentary T-Rex 13 and I'm so shocked and saddened by the behavior of Maurice Williams and his ilk. Firstly he robbed the BHI of $5,000 and then had the nerve to smile at the auction, knowing full well that Pete Larson was there and had spent 24 months in Federal prison. All because Maurice Williams was a money grabbing, lying, cheating, scam artist. I see from the news he passed away back in 2011. I don't feel bad one bit. Karma will come for them all in the end. I do feel sorry for the folks at the BHI and the citizens of Hill, SD who were treated so poorly by the US government.

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