Only child of Earl and Pearl Goetschius Douglass, Gawin was born in Pennsylvania but spent many childhood years with his father and mother at the site of the large dinosaur quarry near Jensen, Utah where his father labored. Gawin's father was Earl Douglass, the renowned paleontologist who discovered a huge burial ground of dinosaurs from the Jurassic Age buried in the Morrison Rock Formations nearby. The elder Douglass worked with a team of men over the course of about fifteen years in Uintah County, Utah to unearth this amazing and unique find. The land in which Earl worked eventually became the property of the U.S. Government when Dinosaur National Monument was created. Gawin was so profoundly influenced by his father that he studied geology at the University of Utah and following his father's death, collected together all his father's diaries and notes with the dream of publishing them some day. This feat was begun by Gawin but was not completed in his lifetime. His daughters ended up editing this large effort and publishing Gawin's book, "Speak to the Earth and It Will Teach You" in 2009, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the big discovery of bones made by Earl Douglass on August 17, 1909. Gawin married Thelma R. Dunckel at Salt Lake City on December 27, 1933. The couple moved around a bit, and Gawin eventually worked for a gold mining company. They had two daughters. His final few years were spent living near his daughter Diane and husband Tom Iverson at Pella, Iowa. He had developed Alzheimer's Disease, but fortunately did not have to suffer with it for too long. He was buried next to his wife Thelma in Hardin, Montana.
Only child of Earl and Pearl Goetschius Douglass, Gawin was born in Pennsylvania but spent many childhood years with his father and mother at the site of the large dinosaur quarry near Jensen, Utah where his father labored. Gawin's father was Earl Douglass, the renowned paleontologist who discovered a huge burial ground of dinosaurs from the Jurassic Age buried in the Morrison Rock Formations nearby. The elder Douglass worked with a team of men over the course of about fifteen years in Uintah County, Utah to unearth this amazing and unique find. The land in which Earl worked eventually became the property of the U.S. Government when Dinosaur National Monument was created. Gawin was so profoundly influenced by his father that he studied geology at the University of Utah and following his father's death, collected together all his father's diaries and notes with the dream of publishing them some day. This feat was begun by Gawin but was not completed in his lifetime. His daughters ended up editing this large effort and publishing Gawin's book, "Speak to the Earth and It Will Teach You" in 2009, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the big discovery of bones made by Earl Douglass on August 17, 1909. Gawin married Thelma R. Dunckel at Salt Lake City on December 27, 1933. The couple moved around a bit, and Gawin eventually worked for a gold mining company. They had two daughters. His final few years were spent living near his daughter Diane and husband Tom Iverson at Pella, Iowa. He had developed Alzheimer's Disease, but fortunately did not have to suffer with it for too long. He was buried next to his wife Thelma in Hardin, Montana.
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