During the summer of 1897 Walter Granger, a paleontologist from the American Museum of Natural History, came upon a hillside littered with Jurassic period dinosaur bone fragments.

"[2][3] After Granger's discovery in late August 1897, the quarry was kept secret until early 1898, when the manpower could be amassed to undertake a full-scale excavation.

Henry Fairfield Osborn, curator of the American Museum of Natural History headed the expedition.

[6] Some of the dinosaurs found at the Bone Cabin Quarry include Stegosaurus, Allosaurus and Apatosaurus.

[8] From the Annual Field Report of the American Museum of Natural History, 1898:[9] On June 12th a rich strike was made in opening "Bone Cabin Quarry".