Namesakes of Nature

Guarding Int'l Secrets

Pacific Ocean Campaign

Books in Print

Nature Reading List

Rose Wind Press

A Division of Compass Rose Corp

Namesakes of Nature in the West
An Inquiring Minds lecture sponsored by the Washington Humanities Commission.
A member of the family Sciuridae
Everyday we encounter the names of birds, plants, animals and places named by our forebears. During the 19th Century, there was a proliferation of military reports, scientific studies, and naval documentation that recorded much of the natural history that still thrives. For many, the naturalists' names havepaled before the voyagers and explorers who led the expeditions, but these adventures opened the floodgates of data and years of collecting that led to a body of science respected today. 
    This lecture is based on the notebooks and personal diaries of naturalists who visited and recorded flora and fauna. They lend unusual insight to their lives, philosophies, and adventures in the Pacific Northwest wilderness. Beginning with Archibald Menzies at the end of the 1700s, a selection of slides portrays the landscapes they encountered, drawings and manuscripts they created, and the individuals who set this rapid pace for natural history collection. 
The Great Blue Heron
Thomas Nuttall was an early environmental explorer in the NW. He was an American guest at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River for months. Due to his exceptional knowledge of flora and fauna, the Hudson's Bay Company provided guides and interpreters to Nuttall. This was particularly necessary when they realized his propensity to become lost in the wilderness. Nuttall was so captaivated with the many new species and specimens that he lost his bearings often. Nuttall was a talented printer, too, who realized that printing his knowledge and information about his discoveries would serve humanity and further explorations of the Pacific Northwest.
Naturalist Thomas Nuttall
American and British naturalists competed to be first to discover new classes but shared their findings internationally. The Spanish had flourishing gardens at Nootka Sound and two resident botanists. The Hudson's Bay Company helped sponsor Scotsman David Douglas by furnishing him transportation, guides and linguists. He and his Scottie dog Billy trekked thousands of miles through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia, the Yukon, Russian Alaska, California and Hawaii.
     Americans John Kirk Townsend and Thomas Nuttall were welcome guests at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River. Nuttall was an astute observer and a printer so made sure his discoveries were published. Early US Coast Guard cutters and naval vessels carried surgeons and medical assistants charged with surveying the healthful environments of the Northwest. Many were highly skilled scientists who developed particular interests in marine biology (William C. Dall), botony, geology, ethnology and zoology.
The arrival of the US Army in 1849 established a reliable network communication system that methodically recorded weather and environmental changes and even the impact of permanent human settlement. Captain Charles Bendire served at Western frontier posts for 30 years. His keen interest in oology and ornitholgy was daily supplemented while on patrols near Camps Harney and Klamath, and at Forts Walla Walla, The Dalles, and Vancouver, and the Lapwai Indian Reservation. His network with other interested army officers led to the most extensive collection of birds' eggs in the Smithsonian Institution. Upon retirement, Bendire was appointed the curator of ornithology and wrote the first Birds of North America.
      The Inquiring Minds lecture series 2006-2008, sponsored by the Washington Humanities Commission features historian and author Mary Kline Rose with this presentation titled Namesakes of Nature. The program seeks to broaden our awarenes of the people who identified our environment. Audience discussion and exchange of ideas is highly encouraged.
Captain Charles Bendire, Oologist, Ornithologist & Naturalist
Wild Strawberries
Wild Rhododendron, Washington State Flower
For more information regarding scheduling or content, please contact us at this website or direct inquiries to http://www.humanities.org. You may also call 206-682-1770, Washington Commission for the Humanities.

For more information regarding scheduling or content, please contact us at this website or direct inquiries to http://www.humanities.org. You may also call 206-682-1770, Washington Commission for the Humanities.