The Return of Pops the Triceratops

They say, history repeats itself.

“Biggest head in county to return: Weld dinosaur coming home.” That was the July 17, 1986, headline in the Greeley Tribune.

The article by Lisa Wade goes on to state “’Pops’ the Triceratops is finally coming home. For the past four years, the ‘old fossil’ has lived away from his homeland of Weld County and in a laboratory or private studio in Boulder.”

This leg of the Triceratops’ journey was certainly not its first; More than 69 million years ago the dinosaur roamed freely in the swampy lands — filled with water, greenery and even crocodiles — of what would later become Weld County. But, it was the first series of road trips Pops would take post discovery in 1982.

“I don’t know if you noticed this article in the Tribune this last week or not,” wrote Jeanette Magnuson to Roland “Sonny” Mapelli on July 25, 1982, “but this fossil was unearthed here on your ranch in Briggsdale.” Mapelli would later learn that the fossil was not only discovered on his Seven Cross Ranch, but it was also removed from the property without permission.

Leg one of the fossil’s road trip had taken place — from Briggsdale to the University of Colorado (CU).  Mapelli, who had a special place in his heart for Weld County, was not OK with the fossil’s removal and planned future of being placed in a museum. He wanted to gift the fossil to the people of Weld County. So, years of court proceedings began, and ultimately Mapelli was deemed the rightful owner of the fossil.

Leg two of the fossil’s road trip was then from the lab at CU to the Boulder studio of artist and paleontologist Bob Tate, who worked on restoring the fossil at the request of Mapelli. Once Tate completed his work on the skull, Mapelli had the fossil loaded up for the third leg of its journey — back home to Weld County.

“This is my family’s gift to the county,” Mapelli said to the Tribune in that 1986 article. “We thought this would be a nice gift and it’s something we want to do. He’ll be on display in a glass case and there will be information there about him and his history.

“It’s important to have all that information especially for the kids who want to come see him.”

And so for 25 years, Pops the Triceratops was on display at the Centennial Building in downtown Greeley for Weld County residents to view and enjoy.

In 2011, the fossil was once again loaded in a truck for a short move to the county’s new administration building in north Greeley. Leg four complete.

April 23, 2023, Greeley Tribune headline “A Unique Piece of County History: Weld County’s dinosaur fossil returns home after restoration at Denver Museum.”

In 2018, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) reached out to Weld County Government with a proposal to study and restore the fossil, and after many conversations and legal agreements, Pops was headed back out on the road.

In 2020, DMNS staff carefully prepared Pops for his fifth road trip, this time from Greeley to Denver. For several months, the fossil was on display at the museum while restoration work and research were completed. This time, however, the trip was not done quietly. Fans from around the world were able to keep up with the project via social media — from the making of the plaster jacket to remove the fossil safely from the building to the hours of work by staff at the museum caring not only for the skull but also for the four additional boxes of fossil found under the original display case.

Once the museum’s work was complete, Pops took yet another trip (the sixth for the fossil) — this time through the mountains and over the Continental Divide to the studio of Rob Gaston in Fruita. Gaston, well known for his casting of fossils, has worked with the DMNS on multiple projects and was commissioned to create casts of the Pops fossils for DMNS to house and researchers to access.

“What a privilege to be able to have something right there in front of you; you can touch it, and it’s got that history,” said Gaston when asked about working on restoration of the Pops fossil. When asked what it was like to work on the fossil, Gaston continued, “It’s very typical of a lot of the material we get, probably even better.” Gaston estimates that 75% of Pops’ skull is complete with actual fossilized bone.

Once Gaston completed his part of the Pops project, it was time to send the fossil back to Weld County. After almost two and a half years away from home, Pops was carefully loaded into a white van and brought back to the county administration building — fully restored, new case and all! Leg seven of Pops’ travels complete.

Reminiscent of Wade’s 1986 article, Tribune reporter Trevor Reid began his 2023 article, “After a relatively very short stay in Denver, a Weld County resident of more than 69 million years is back home.”

And, much like what happened in 1986, the homecoming was celebrated by the community. The display cases were covered for the big welcome home event, new artwork was printed to display next to not one, but two, new cases, and updated signage was installed to tell the story of the famous and well-traveled dinosaur.

At the official unveiling of the fossil on April 21, 2023, Terri Mapelli DeMoney, daughter of Sonny Mapelli, was overcome with emotion.

“Dad would have been so proud,” she said, as she looked at a room filled with families. Cupcakes, dinosaur songs, photos of the Pops projects projected on the screens, and lots of laughing and chatter from children emphasized the excitement attendees had for Pops’ long-awaited return.

“This is exactly what dad wanted.”

Weld County is responsible for maintaining 2,885 miles of roads within its transportation system, but that is just one piece of Weld County's infrastructure puzzle. In our next installment of County Government 101, we'll look at the work counties do to provide and preserve infrastructure for residents.