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In Memoriam: George Bird Grinnell

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In Memoriam: George Bird Grinnell THE AUK A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY VOL. 56 JANUARY,1939 No. 1 IN MEMORIAM: GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL Born September20, 1849--Died April 11, 1938 BY ALBERT KENRICK FISHER Plates 1, œ IT seemsto be a recognizedfact that ornithologyin Americahas advanced further in intricate detail than in any othercountry, and suchaccomplish- ment shouldmake us feel justly proud. We in thesemodern times, however. cannotbut recognizethat our effortshave had little to do in buildingup the backgroundof our science. Thoseof us who worshipthe great out-of-doors shouldnot be unjustlycriticized if we are inclinedto be enviousof the ex- periencesof the early naturalistswho pushedinto the almostunknown wildernessand reapeda wonderfulharvest. In suchventures, with minds keyedup with enthusiasm,these men naturally gave little thoughtto hard- ship,suffering, or evenrisk of life, for anticipationof successand opportunity of unfoldingNature's secretsmade them think lightly of the unpleasant detailssure to creepin from time to time, or evenforget them. If we pass by the early ornithologicalpioneers and considerfor a momentthe activities of thoseattached to the PacificRailroad Surveys,or stationedat frontier army posts,it is easyto imaginetheir daily enthusiasmas beingsomewhat comparableto ours when we enter a new region where unfamiliar forms abound. Later on, beforeNature wasunbalanced by the ignorance,wanton- ness, or stupidity of man, and untrammeledby mechanicaladaptation, those attached to parties that went out under ClarenceKing, Hayden, General Custer, ColonelLudlow, and others,also helpedin moldingthe background. Amongthese was GeorgeBird Grinnell,the subjectof this paper,who passed beyond on April 11, 1938,in his eighty-ninthyear. 1 Born in Brooklyn,New York, September20, 1849, he was the son of GeorgeBlake and HelenLansing Grinnell. Amonghis ancestorswere five Colonialgovernors and Betty Alden, the first white womanborn in New Photograph taken November 2, 1923. Tn• A•y•, VOL. 56 PLATE 1 2 FISHER,In Memoriam: George Bird Grinnell t[AukJan. England. On August21, 1902,he marriedElizabeth Kirby Curtis, widow of Emery Leverett Williams,of Boston,who accompaniedhim on practically all the expeditionsof his later life, and who surviveshim. From about the beginningof easternrailroad construction and continuing through time, the building and extensionof the lines enabled people to leavecongested areas with comparativeease and to reachand build homes farther and farther in the country,following closely on the heelsof progress. In 1849,the year Grinnellwas born, the HudsonRiver Railroadcompleted its line between30th Street, New York City, and the villageof Peekskill,a distanceof aboutforty miles. This form of transportation,more comfort- able and rapid than stagecoaches, opened up the attractive country along the easternshore of the HudsonRiver. Not slowto take advantageof this opportunity,people settled northward along the river, my parentsamong them, goingas far north as SingSing in 1852. With this wave of migration, Grinnell'sparents moved to AudubonPark on the first of January 1857, about six years after the death of Audubon. Grinnell statesthat he was then a very small boy, about far enoughadvanced in polite learning to know A from B. At that time Madam Audubon conducted a little school for her grandchildren,which was attended alsoby someof the neighbors' children,of whom Georgewas one. It was his first attendanceat a school. The whole tract of AudubonPark, with the exceptionof two houses,be- longedto Madam Audubon. The family had abundanceof land, with much of it quite unsalable. Grinnellhad a vivid memoryof an occasionwhen he accompaniedhis father to seeMadam Audubonand concludethe purchase of a pieceof land, and of the great relief, satisfaction,and evengratitude, that sheexpressed to the elder Grinnellfor his willingnessto make the pur- chase. Madam Audubon gave Grinnell his first consciouslesson about birds. One of his early recollectionswas beingcalled from the breakfasttable one morningto look at a large flock of PassengerPigeons that was feedingin a dogwoodtree twenty-five or thirty feet from the house. Therewere so many of the birdsthat all couldnot alight in it, and many kept flutteringabout while othersfed on the ground,eating berries knocked off by thoseabove. When Grinnell was a little fellow, Madam Audubon identified for him a Red Crossbill,which he had caughtin a crab net. BeforeGrinnell was old enoughto own a gun, he killed with a borrowedone a GroundDove out of a flock, which was a northern record for the species. The painting of the Eagle and the Lamb that hung in Madam Audubon'sroom was willed by her to Grinnell, as he had admired and talked about it so much. In Grin- nell'swill he left this paintingtogether with a valuablecollection of Audubon manuscriptsto the National Associationof AudubonSocieties. Later Grinnellattended Churehill's Military Schoolat SingSing. As the Vol.1939 56]J FISHER,In Memoriam:George Bird Grinnell 3 lane whichled from the schoolarea to the woodsand fieldsof the country beyondbordered my homeproperty, we oftensaw the boyson their excur- sions. SinceGrinnell was a lover of the out-of-doors,and probablywent to the woodsoften, we undoubtedlymet without knowingthat later on we shouldbe the closestof friends. He left this schoolin 1866,and after a trip abroadentered Yale, wherehe receivedhis A.B. in 1870, Ph.D. in 1880, and Litt. D. in 1921. Like many of the happeningsof years ago, where positiverecords are lacking,it often is very difficultor even impossibleto rememberthe date when one first met an individual who later became a devoted friend. This is my experiencewith Grinnell. Grinnellwas not locatedin New York during the years1875-79 when the LinnaeanSociety of New York wasfounded and meetingswere held, and when my studiesat the Collegeof Physiciansand Surgeonswere carried to completion. Consequentlyour meetingwas sub- sequentto that period. Visits are recalledwhile he waseditor of 'Forestand Stream' and when he was host at his Audubon Park home. On one occasion, to get a better view of the interestingAudubon plates, host and guest spreadthe hugevolume on the parlorfloor, where they sat and enjoyedthem. In the summerof 1870 soonafter graduatingfrom Yale, Grinnell joined the party of O. C. Marsh to collectvertebrate fossils in the hostileIndian country, during a periodof six months. The areasvisited were fossilbeds in Nebraska,Wyoming, Utah and Kansaswhere a rich collectionof Pliocene andCretaceous material was secured. Hi continuedto make annual trips to the West, and in 1874shortly after he had goneto the PeabodyMuseum as assistantin osteology,he wasasked by ProfessorMarsh to take his place as Naturalist in the expeditionto the Black Hills, which was beingsent out under command of General Custer. In almosteveryone's life therehave beenoccasions when keen disappoint- ment prevailedbecause what was thought a minor affair, preventedthe ac- complishmentof oneseemingly much more important. When time brought in its final analysis,however, it wasfound that the interventionwas a bless- ingin disguise,asotherwise dire happenings would have been the alternative. As a goodexample of this intangibleguidance of Nature, or in whateverway we wish to designateit, we will cite Grinnell'slast experiencewith General Custer, who had becomevery much attached to him during the Black Hills trip. As a consequence,Custer extended him an urgentinvitation to accompanythe 1876 Expeditionas Naturalist. The invitation would have beenaccepted with alacrity,as the experiencesof eachday wouldhave been teemingwith interest,but at the time, Grinnellwas assistantin osteology in the PeabodyMuseum, where there wereduties he considerednecessary to perform. Accordingly,he felt obligedwith deep regret to decline.the invitation. If the lure of the Westhad drawnhim awayfrom New Haven 4 FISHER,In Memoriam: George Bird Grinnell [•aUnk. on this occasion,he undoubtedlywould have figuredin the grand massacre that annihilatedCuster's command. This wouldhave beenan addedgrave tragedy,as the Indians would have lost a later staunchdefender, and the countryone of its finestnaturalists, one who was to be uppermostin ad- vancingconservation and kindred subjectsrelating to Nature and wildlife. The numerous letters he wrote to Doctor C. Hart Merriam and others are most interestingand contain much of wisdomand philosophy,often in direct reply to letters sent to him containinga recital of sometrouble, opinion,or grievanceor other outstandingsubject. The followingquota- tions from two of theseletters would seemwell to record:"One alwaysre- gretsthe opportunitiesfor doinggood that were missed,but on the other hand we flatter ourselveswith the thoughtthat we have tried to do the best, although of coursewe wish that our effortshad been attended with more success.""Even old peoplehave to sufferthese things [changed conditions of life] from time to time; I waspulled up by the rootsfrom AudubonPark and transplantedat East 15th Street. The changewould have been misery if I had permitted myself to think about and lament it. I did not think about it, and did not regret." In a letter in whichhe wasinformed of successin the accomplishmentof a rather importantand intricateproblem, he replied:"The conqueringof difficultiesis one of the chiefjoys of life." How aptly this shortsentence describeshis character! All throughhis active life whendifficult problems arosein conservation,wildlife protection,and Indian and other matters in which he had keen interest,he had sucha quiet,
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