Utah Grizzly Skull – The Legend of Old Ephraim

Utah Grizzly Skull – The Legend of Old Ephraim

Remastered and prepared for 3D printing by TreGrizz

Bring a piece of Utah’s wild legend to life this Halloween!

This printable skull is drawn directly from a 3D scan of the real skull of Old Ephraim, the legendary grizzly bear who terrorized the sheepherders of Logan Canyon in the early 1900s. Folklore says he stood nearly ten feet tall and was once said to devour ten sheep in one night, consuming bone, hooves, and all. LAST GRIZZLY

Old Ephraim’s infamy loomed large across northern Utah and southern Idaho: he evaded traps, destroyed livestock, and inspired fear and awe until his final confrontation in 1923. This 3D-printed replica honors both the raw power of the bear and the frontier history of the region.

Reference: The Real Skull of Old Ephraim
 

Model Details & Print Recommendations

This printable replica was cleaned, repaired, and remeshed from the official Utah State University 3D scan of the real skull to ensure reliable FDM printing while preserving authentic anatomical detail.

• Layer Height: 0.16 mm (tested) | 0.20 mm also prints well
• Orientation: Nose tilted up ≈ 15° for best surface finish
• Supports: Auto-generated ≈ 10–15 % density
• Filament: Bambu PLA Basic White (my preference) or Bambu PLA Matte Bone White
• Printer: Tested on Bambu P1S

Scale / Size Notes

The original DigitalCommons scan does not include physical measurements for the authentic skull housed at Utah State University.
This model is exported in real-world millimeters as captured from that scan. When printed at 100 % scale, the replica measures just over 19 cm in length—approximately half the estimated size of the real skull, which would have been around 38–40 cm long, consistent with exceptionally large adult grizzlies of Old Ephraim’s legend.
You can freely scale the file up or down to suit your printer or display space.

 Attribution & Credits

Original 3D scan courtesy of DigitalCommons @ Utah State University:

Egbert, Gary. “Old Ephraim Skull 3D Model” (2017). Old Ephraim Exhibit. 1.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/oldephraim/1

Model cleaned, remeshed, and prepared for 3D printing by TreGrizz.
Please maintain this citation if you remix or redistribute the model.

"Old Ephraim, Old Ephraim, your deeds were so wrong,
Yet we build you this marker and sing you this song.
To the king of the forest so mighty and tall,
We salute you, Old Ephraim, the king of them all"