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Robert T. Hill

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Biography

Robert T. Hill was born on August 11, 1858, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was orphaned at the age of five during the American Civil War and then raised in the home of his grandmother. In 1874, at the age of 16, Hill boarded a train and traveled to where the tracks ended in east Waco, Texas. From there, he found his way to the frontier town of Comanche, Texas, located 89 mi (143 km) to the west of Waco, where he joined his brother, Joe, the editor of the Comanche Chief newspaper. Robert worked as a printer for the newspaper and performed various other duties, including writing and bookbinding, and eventually became co-editor of the paper.

During the summer of 1876, Hill joined a survey crew headed to the Rolling Plains between the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado and Fort Griffin, Texas. The work, although somewhat tedious at times, provided an opportunity for Hill to explore the "redbed country" of west-central Texas. This land of reddish-brown sediments and rock has been carved by years of erosion, leaving behind scenic mesas and buttes that preserve clues to the region's geologic past. In 1877, at the age of 19, Hill accepted an offer to work as a cowboy driving a large herd of cattle from Uvalde, Texas, to Dodge City, Kansas. The cattle drive took many months, during which time he learned to live outdoors for extended periods and developed frontier skills that proved valuable in his later years, as he worked as a field geologist.

Returning to work again at the Comanche Chief, Hill began to spend idle time exploring the local terrain. His interest in geology grew, as he took special interest in the many flat-topped mesas and buttes in the region. One butte in particular, named Round Mountain, was located only 6 mi (9.7 km) to the northwest of Comanche, and he often climbed to the top to enjoy the view. Although he had little knowledge of geology at this point, he found the fossils along its rocky slopes to be fascinating, so he began to collect specimens. Hill's collection of fossils grew and soon cluttered the window sills and filled the corners of the newspaper office.

Through a friend, Hill obtained a copy of Wilson's Fifth Reader that contained chapters on various subjects, including a chapter on geology. Hill studied this book, and the more he learned, the more he wanted to know about geology. He then ordered, through his local drug store, a copy of the Manual of Geology by James Dwight Dana, one of the leading geologists in North America. Hill carefully studied this book and attempted to place the local stratigraphy into Dana's scheme of classification. It became apparent that he was dealing with rocks and fossils that had not as yet been described by modern science. This discovery propelled Hill into a lifelong interest in the Cretaceous period – when Central Texas was covered by a shallow sea.

At some point, Hill recognized that the next logical step in his pursuit of geological knowledge was to attend university and obtain a proper education. Through his newspaper connections, Hill found acceptance at Cornell University, which allowed students to take a light course load and work their way through school. In February 1882, Hill left Comanche for Ithaca, New York, to study geology at Cornell. From 1882 through 1885, he worked his way through Cornell, where he received a bachelor of science degree in geology in 1887.


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