Savannah Period

Across millions of years, as the waters of the inland sea drained away, this part of the country looked very different than it does now.  

It was warm and swampy, much like parts of Florida today.  This was called the Savannah Period (13-11 millions years ago). Notice the unusual animals that lived here then: hippos, mammoths, camels and saber-toothed tigers, to mention a few.  We know they once roamed this area because their fossil remains have been found here.