Survey outlining the evidence in support of the impact theory. The papers were published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. By the late 1920s, Barringer had convinced most of the scientific community that his impact theory was correct. The theory has been further confirmed with new evidence since then, most notably by Eugene Shoemaker during the 1960s. The mining of the crater continued until 1929 without ever finding the ten-million ton meteorite that Barringer assumed must be hidden. By this point Barringer had spent over $600,000 with no iron profits to show for it, nearly bankrupting him. At this time the astronomer Forest Ray Moulton performed calculations on the energy expended by the meteorite on impact, and concluded that the meteorite had most likely vaporized when it landed. Death Barringer died of a heart attack on November 30, 1929, shortly after reading the very persuasive arguments that no iron was to be found. He was survived by his wife, Margaret Bennett, and eight children, who, with their descendants, formed the Barringer Crater Company, which owns the site to this day as a family business. Legacy In honor of Daniel Barringer’s memory, in 1982 the Meteoritical Society established an award, the Barringer Medal, given at the Meteoritical Society annual meeting, to recognize outstanding work in the field of impact crater research which is sponsored by the Barringer Crater Company. In addition, in 2002 as a memorial to Daniel Barringer and his sons’ contributions to the field of impact crater research, the Barringer Crater Company established the Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research to support field work by eligible students on the study of impact cratering processes. See also The Meteor Crater Impact crater References External links William Hoyt, Coon Mountain Controversies, Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 1987. Daniel Barringer biography Meteor Crater (Tourism site) 1860 births 1929 deaths Daniel Princeton University alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Harvard College alumni University of Virginia alumni American geologists