AFTER FRANÇOIS AND ÉTIENNE, A COUPLE OF FIVE-YEAR-OLDS, FOUND A DINOSAUR BONE, THEY OPENED A MUSEUM

Sadly, the bone belonged to a less exotic animal, and the museum soon closed. Remains from bygone days fascinate everyone, not just small children. We save parts of buildings, old clothing and other possessions. Sometimes we just unearth something interesting. Such artifacts carry our thoughts back to earlier times and help us anchor the present to the past.

The Museum's most noted relic is an astrolabe reputed to have been used by Samuel de Champlain. Our collections contain many samples of history, but even more remain undiscovered.

1. Billet head found around 1920 on the shore of Conception Bay by some children. A billet head is a substitute for a ship's figurehead. Gift of Mr. Howard Morgan, Port De Grave, Newfoundland.
(N-143)
2. Camp stove remaining after Robert E. Peary's dash to the North Pole in 1909. Peary's success capped more than 80 years of effort to reach the Earth's northernmost point. The stove was found by Jeff Hattersley Smith and Bob Christie of the Geological Survey of Canada. (G-57)