John Bell Hatcher (October 11, 1861 – July 3, 1904) was an American paleontologist and fossil hunter known as the "king of collectors" Hatcher attended the Guthrie County High School, in Panora, Iowa, and graduated in 1881.

Education

He first took an interest in paleontology and geology while working as a coal miner to save money for school

In 1896, Hatcher conceived of, planned, and secured the greater part of the funding for three expeditions to Patagonia, as well as the idea of publishing the results of the expeditions with funding from J. Pierpont Morgan.]]

Beginning in 1900, with recommendations from Dana, Marsh, Scott, and Yale President Timothy Dwight, Hatcher was hired by William Jacob Holland as curator of paleontology and osteology for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, succeeding Jacob Lawson Wortman.

References

Further reading

  • Obituary of John Bell Hatcher by Charles Schuchert (with a bibliography of Hatcher's works by O. A. Peterson) in The American Geologist, v.35, no.3, 1905.
  • Obituary of John Bell Hatcher by William Berryman Scott in Science, v.20, no.500, 1904.
  • Diplodocus Marsh, by J.B. Hatcher 1901 Its Osteology, Taxonomy, and Probable Habits, with a Restoration of the Skeleton. Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum, Volume 1, Number 1, 1901. Full text, Free to read.