Rebelsaurus Rex: A Civil War Secret Weapon Revealed On Historic Virginia Battlefield

Deep in the foothills of Natural Bridge, Virginia, there’s a site that reveals a part of Civil War history you won’t see in your school books, and some people are gonna be real dino-sore about this news. According to Atlas Obscura,

In 1863, while excavating fossils in Lost Caverns, a family of Southern paleontologists discovered a hidden valley full of living dinosaurs. As the Garrison Family studied these creatures in peace, the Union Army discovered their secret and attempted to use the dinosaurs as weapons of mass destruction against the South.

Wowzers, the Yankees using dinosaurs. It’s almost like their battle strength being on steroids, which is definitely right up their alley. And it always seems to backfire…

At Dinosaur Kingdom, visitors are guided along the path showing the grisly defeat of the Union Army by these terrible lizards. A big snake swallows a Yankee soldier whole; an Allosaurus rips a Union officer off of his rearing horse while his hapless companion futilely tries to lasso it. Several dinosaurs were even outfitted with motors and speakers, moving their jaws and wagging their tongues while cinematic music and sound effects are piped in through speakers.

This site recently came into the spotlight when a science reporter for Vox, Brian Resnick, rolled through & documented his findings on Twitter. Remarkable. I knew people swept Bigfoot’s contributions to the Rebel cause under the rug, but this was new to me.

If battle Dinos aren’t your thing, the same artist who built this gem, also built Foamhenge. Which, you guessed it – is Stonehenge made of cotton fibers. (JK JK, foam!!!)