In 1947 Professor T. M. N. Lewis, archaeologist, announced that a prehistoric footprint from Nicaragua had been donated to UT. The footprint was one of those that caused a stir in the scientific world in 1938 when they were unearthed 15 feet underground by quarrying operations near Managua. The footprints were generally thought to be “footprints of death,” made by men and women when they fled across a flow of volcanic mud in an attempt to escape from the volcano. The mud was covered by other volcanic substances and hardened, preserving the footprints, Lewis explained. The footprint was donated to UT by Joseph A. McEachern of West Newton, Massachusetts, a UT alumnus who found the footprint in Nicaragua while he was serving as an army colonel during World War II.