University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Mammalogy Papers: University of Nebraska State Museum, University of Nebraska State Museum Spring 2018 Science at Engineer Cantonment [Part 5] Hugh H. Genoways University of Nebraska - Lincoln,
[email protected] Brett .C Ratcliffe University of Nebraska - Lincoln,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/museummammalogy Genoways, Hugh H. and Ratcliffe, Brett .,C "Science at Engineer Cantonment [Part 5]" (2018). Mammalogy Papers: University of Nebraska State Museum. 279. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/museummammalogy/279 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Museum, University of Nebraska State at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mammalogy Papers: University of Nebraska State Museum by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Part 5 Science at Engineer Cantonment HUGH H. GENOWAYS AND BRETT C. RATCLIFFE Introduction ong’s Expedition was the first party with trained scientists to explore the American LWest in the name of the United States government.1 Historians have not been particularly kind to the expedition. William Goetzmann described the party as “A curious cavalcade of disgruntled career officers, eccentric scientists, and artist-playboys, . .”2 Hiram Chittenden believed that the expedition of 1819 had failed, and that “a small side show was organized for the season of 1820 in the form of an expedition to the Rocky Mountains.”3 On the other hand, biologists have had a much more positive view of the expedition’s results.4 However, biologists have concentrated their interest, not surprisingly, on the summer expedition, because members of the party were Many new taxa of plants and animals were the first to study and collect in the foothills of the discovered in the vicinity of the cantonment.