EARLY NATURALISTS IN TEXAS

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EARLY NATURALISTS IN TEXAS
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WHAT IS A NATURALIST
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CHARACTERISTICS

• OBSERVER
• RECORDER
• COLLECTOR
• STUDENT
• DEDICATED TO THE CAUSE

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• Who were the earliest?
• How do we know?
• Who followed?

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Jean Louis Berlandier1800?-1851

• Geneva, Switzerland
• Sent to Mexico 1826 to collect for Geneva Academy
• Accompanied soldiers into Texas
• Sent over 55,000 plants to Switzerland
• Remained in Mexico
• Many scientific names associated with him
• Texas tortoise, Spanish grape, Acacia

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Thomas Drummond1790-1835

• Scotland
• Arrived in North America in 1825 with British
  expedition- Collected plants and birds
• Arrived in Texas in 1833
• Collection of 750 plants and 150 birds
• Many species bear his name
• Post Oak, Annual Phlox, Wild Onion

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Ferdinand Lindheimer1801-1879Father of Texas
Botany

• Germany (Professor)
• Arrived in Texas 1833 -Returned in 1836
• Collected for Dr. Gray (Harvard)
• Led German settlers to Comal River
• Sold dried plants to collectors
• Prickly Pear, Hackberry, Rat Snake, Texas Star,
  Mimosa, White Gaura

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Charles Wright1811-1885

• Connecticut Yale educated
• Arrived in Texas 1837
• Sold plants to Dr. Gray (Harvard Museum)
• Walked to El Paso w/survey crew 1848
• -collecting 570 specimens
• Over 1,400 species sent to Harvard
• Jimson Weed, Goldenrod, Verbena, Mallow,
  Salamander, Gray Flycatcher

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Others

• John James Audubon 1837
• Julien Reverchon
• Ferdinand Roemer 1846
• Father of Texas Geology
• Jacob Boll 1869
• Explored and collected fossils near Wichita Falls
  
• Sent over 15,000 specimens to Harvard

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Gideon Lincecum

• 1793-1874
• 1813 in Mississippi
• Married
• Employed in mercantile for 10 years
• Developed an interest in medicinal plants
• Was invited to become a doctor

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Journey to Texas

• 1835 to Texas with small party
• Decided to remain
• to study the rivers and soils
• Traveled from Gulf Coast to Fredericksburg area
• Collected shells, fossils, birds, grasses
• Captured by Comanches near Nueces River
• Counseled with local medicine men
• Escaped

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• Traveled and explored between the Brazos and
  Colorado
• Returned to Mississippi
• Twelve years later returned to Texas
• Settled in at Long Point to farm
• Mount Olympus 1800 acre plantation

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Naturalist Days

• Developed a keen interest in insects
• Ants.named the Harvester Ant
• Wrote articles for The American Naturalist
• Began collecting for scientists and private
  collectors
• Sent thousands of specimens
• Including large collection to Smithsonian

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Later Years

• Civil War
• Ruin of plantation
• Death of wife in 1867
• Moved to Mexico in 1868
• Returned to Texas in 1873
• A final collection to the Smithsonian in 1874