Eastern California Museum in Independence, California
100 years ago, if you lived long enough in the rural American West, it was entirely reasonable, that at some point, you might find yourself with a ever shrinking amount of teeth and a surplus of coyotes. Such was the position George Washington Hancock found himself in the early part of the twentieth century in Independence, California. In desperate need of dentures and lacking the funds for…
The Eastern California Museum, nestled in the mountains near Independence, California, showcases an unusual exhibit: George Washington Hancock's homemade dentures made from coyote teeth. In the 1900s, Hancock, facing a missing tooth count and limited funds, opted to craft his own teeth from local coyotes using melted toothbrush handles.
Sadly, photographs of his unique smile are lost to history. Dentures caught Dr. Douglas Dyer's attention in 1946, leading to their donation by Dr. Dyer's widow, Florence, to the museum. Today, the museum, perched near the Eastern Sierras, houses historical artifacts, mining equipment, and a functioning steam locomotive, the Southern Pacific 18.
Its collection includes Paiute and Timbisha basketry, Japanese-American camp artifacts from Manzanar, an original baseball pitcher's plate, an Edward S. Curtis photograph collection, and a 1896 Regina Music Box.
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