Despite a $1.2 million effort by Rapid City businessman Stan Adelstein, "Sue" won't be coming home to the Black Hills.

As one of eight unsuccessful bidders at Sotheby's October 4 auction in New York, Adelstein wanted to bring "Sue" back to South Dakota where she lived and died 65 million years ago. He lost the bid in the first few minutes.

The world-famous Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton went for $8.36 million to Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, backed by McDonald's Corporation and Walt Disney World Resort. The 8 1/2-minute sale netted $762,500 for Sotheby's; $7.6 million for Maurice Williams, who ranches the land near Faith where the fossil was discovered.

"Sue's" new owners bought only her bones, however. Her name belongs to Black Hills Institute of Geological Research of Hill City and was not included in the bidding, a distinction noted in the Sotheby's catalog. The Institute registered the trademark name several years ago, according to Marion Zenker, Institute spokesperson.

The largest and most complete Tyrannasaurus rex ever found, "Sue" was named after Sue Hendrickson, a field collector who was working for the Institute when she discovered the fossilized bones in 1990. The Institute collected the skeleton and invested more than $200,000 in preparation and study before it was seized by the Federal Government in 1992.

"Sue" then became the subject of a widely-publized court custody battle. Although the Institute paid rancher Maurice Williams $5,000 for the fossil, a court ruling invalidated the sale, saying Williams' ranch on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation is held in trust for him, therefore he could not sell the T. rex without Department of the Interior permission.

Although disappointed that "Sue" wouldn't be coming home to Hill City, Black Hills Institute owners thanked Adelstein for his efforts and said they were "relieved that she will again be available for scientific study, after a hiatus of more than five years."

"It is our hope that we will soon be able to resume the research we began seven years ago. We are moving ahead with our plans to build the Black Hills Museum of Natural History. We have four other T. rex and fully expect to find more."

Sue's skeleton is more than 90 percent complete. The Institute owns another T. rex that is 66 percent complete, making "Stan" the second largest T. rex skeleton ever found. Most of the two dozen Tyrannosaurus rex that have been discovered are less than 50 percent complete.
A retail shop operated by the Institute is scheduled to open this winter in a downtown Rapid City building owned and renovated by Adelstein.


Rena