Beginning with the trailblazing expedition of Lewis and Clark, Early American Naturalists tells the stories of men and women of the 1800s who crossed the Mississippi River and encountered the new life of the western New World. Explorers profiled include John James Audubon, Martha Maxwell, and John Muir. John Moring (1946-2002) was professor of zoology at the University of Maine and author of Men with Sand: Great Explorers of the American West . Early American Naturalists Exploring the American West, 1804-1900 By John Moring Taylor Trade Publishing Copyright © 2005 John Moring All right reserved. ISBN: 9781589791831 Chapter One THE EARLY NATURALISTS * * * It was Meriwether Lewis who first coined the term barking squirrel to describe the black-tailed prairie dog. Lewis's friend and co-leaderof the famous Corps of Discovery Expedition, William Clark, calledthe curious animal a "ground rat," because of its extensive burrowsand tunnels. But it was one of the other members of the Lewis andClark expedition, Sergeant John Ordway, who first used the term prairie dog . In a sense, all three terms were partly accurate. This was ananimal of the prairies. It lived in extensive prairie-dog "towns" constructedof elaborate burrow systems. The creature was about thesize of the common gray squirrel of the East, and it barked like adog. But the name that eventually stuck-black-tailed prairie dog-confusedscientists in the East. This small mammal was not a dog,nor a rat, nor a squirrel. It was a species new to science, and it wasLewis and Clark who first recognized the sociable, curious animalsas being unique. The explorers even sent a live "barking squirrel"back to President Thomas Jefferson in the spring of 1805, and theanimal (still very much alive) became the star attraction at Peale'sMuseum in Philadelphia. What swayed eastern scientists concerning this animal discoverywas not just a vague description of a curious animal. Rather, it wasthe detailed notes that Lewis and Clark kept of their encounters andtheir examination of the prairie dog, skins that the explorers sentback east, and the live specimen that was viewed by scientists whenit was placed on display in Philadelphia. Lewis and Clark were primarily explorers, but their place inwestern history as naturalists is secure. Despite the lack of formaltraining by either man-or any member of their party-they wereable to provide meticulous notes on their collections of flora andfauna. Those who followed Lewis and Clark into the lands of theAmerican west often did have such formal scientific training, andthe American west was an Eden for naturalists. As Samuel Bowleswrote in Our New West in 1869, "Nature, weary of repetitions, has inthe New West, created originality, freshly, uniquely, majestically."Rather than picking through familiar forms, naturalists in the westcould ply their trade in virgin territory. Scientific discovery became an important component of many ofthe government-sponsored exploring expeditions into the west inthe last two-thirds of the nineteenth century. Naturalists often participatedas important members of the exploring parties. Such scientistsmade important contributions in an era where Darwin'stheories and the concepts of species and evolution also wereevolving rapidly. The west was a vast, beckoning ghost. In one sense, to someonecrossing the Mississippi River, it felt familiar and comfortable. Theland did not suddenly change when one stepped ashore on the westside of the river. But, to a trained eye, it did. Vast grasslands whistledwhen alerted by gentle winds and moved like any peaceful sea. TheShining Mountains, as some fur trappers called the Rocky Mountains,rose abruptly from the long, rolling plains. And great riversswept eastward and westward, sometimes through deep canyonsand, in other places, through valleys filled with rich, dark soil. Here, the living plants and animals were often different from anyseen in the east, or elsewhere in the world. There was a vast doorwaythat opened into this world, and it enticed dozens of brave soulswho answered its siren call. As the frontier slowly moved westward,accompanied by the sounds of axes and wagon wheels, the era ofnew biological discoveries moved with it. Those who traveled the uncharted lands of the west were quitevaried in personality, but almost all had a passion for natural historythat often had little to do with money. Some, like Thomas Nuttalland David Douglas, often wandered the country alone or attachedthemselves to groups of fur trappers and other armed parties whocould provide some protection. It was a dangerous time, and morethan a few naturalists were killed while pursuing science. Manyothers courted near disaster. As guides became more familiar withthe new lands, European adventurers joined the pursuit of plantsand, particularly, animals. Some were simply hunters who wereseeking new thrills and new types of game. But others combinedtheir collectin