Shell

From Shell into the Bighorn Mountains once again.

Copman's Tomb is about 1,000 feet higher than the surrounding area and was formed largely by erosion. The tomb is that part of the area that has not eroded away.

In 1879, a young man named Jack Copman arrived in the Bighorn Basin working for a cattleman. Copman became a trapper on a tributary of Shell Creek, now known as Trapper Creek. Long before the invention of the airplane, visitors to Copman's camp were amazed to see his “flying machine,” a model glider. Copman dreamed of constructing a full-sized glider and knew just where to launch it – the wedge-shaped prow of Copman's Tomb.

Years later, Copman realized that he would never fulfill his quest. He asked that, when a flying machine was finally invented, his ashes be scattered over the butte. At his death in 1907, Copman's family was in Europe. His final wish was never granted. Though he is buried in the Greybull cemetery, his monument remains Copman's Tomb.

The slumping below Copman's Tomb occurred because of the failure of shale and poorly cemented sandstone between the granite and layers of dolomite. As Shell Creek cut its gorge down through these easily eroded beds, the weight of the overlying dolomite layers (strata) caused large slum blocks to form. These will continue to move down slope until they become stable. The final result is a whole series of slump-blocks - each successively lower and holding up the other.