The year was 1932. Prospectors Frank Carr and Cecil Main were looking for gold in the Pedro Mountains, about 60 miles southwest of Casper. They dynamited a granite face and, to their surprise, uncovered a small cave.
Even more surprising was what they found inside – a tiny, mummified body. Speculation ran rampant. Was this proof of a legendary race of little people that inhabited the mountains of Wyoming? There were certainly Native American legends that supported this theory.
The miners brought the body back to Casper. Before long, it was making the rounds of local sideshows. The body traded hands and eventually ended up in New York City, where it disappeared. But not before x-rays of the mummy had been taken.
Based on a review of the X-rays, more rational scientists concluded that the mummy was probably an infant born with the genetic condition of anencephaly.
To learn more, see the Wyoming Mummy Collection papers at UW’s American Heritage Center