More than 13,000 years after it roamed southern Iowa, and four years after its remains were discovered, Wayne County’s oldest resident, a mastodon dubbed “Dolly,” has returned home.

On Sept. 26, 2026, the Prairie Trails Museum in Corydon, Iowa, welcomed the public to visit the new Wayne County Mastodon Exhibit, where Dolly is the star of the show. A mastodon is a large mammal related to elephants and mammoths that roamed North America from about 3.5 million years ago until about 10,500 years ago. 

When it came to light that an unusually large bone was found in Wayne County, locals contacted John Doershuk, director of the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA). With major support from the landowners, community fundraising, and local volunteer recruitment, OSA staff and volunteers uncovered what turned out to be the most complete mastodon specimen found in Iowa to date. This includes a cranium, a portion of a tusk, and at least 20 other bones, all from the same animal.

Over the last few years, OSA staff and students cleaned, stabilized, analyzed, and documented the fossils, creating a 3D representation of Dolly. 

OSA made several important discoveries. Researchers determined that the remains date to between 13,600 and 13,900 years ago, which means mastodons like Dolly may have lived alongside the earliest known Native American ancestors in southern Iowa. In addition, while excavating the property, they found human-made stone tools that indicate nearby ancient human activity, a first for the region. 

This fall, OSA carefully prepared the specimen to return home to Wayne County. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, local residents, university community members, and those passionate about archaeology filled the new exhibit to get the first look of the mastodon.