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UNIVERSITY OF PUBLICATIONS [CONTINUATION OF UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING PUBLICATIONS IN SCIENCE) Vol. XI, No. 2-pp. 9-12 September IS, 1944

THE 1899 BOTANICAL EXPEDITION INTO YELLOWSTONE PARK

Le:SLIE N. -GOODING 1 Ci I (Excerpts) Ili Forty-five years have passed since that first real botanical exploration of Yellowstone Park was made. The University then consisted of the old main building, the mechanical hall, 142 students and a faculty of IS. More than half of the students were what we called "prep students," and the professors had to teach high school subjects. There are still those who remember Professor Soule teaching beginning Latin, twisting his moustache with one hand, pounding the desk with the other, while punctuating his lesson in Latin conj ugations with "You must know English grammar." The dignity of that faculty made ladies and gentlemen of the "preps" from Wyoming. It was during the fall of I8g8 that the rumor was spread of a proposed botanical expedition to Yellowstone the next summer. Professor Nelson was to head it. He had at that time a most able assistant in the person of Elias Nelson (not related). From the student body one young man was chosen to perform necessary duties, and seniors and juniors were applying, offering their services gratis to see the Park. The writer of this account was amazed when the job was offered to him, not even a full fledged freshman with expenses and the salary of ten dollars a month. The Union Pacific and the Oregon Short Line provided Professor Nelson with facilities to Monida, Montana, about seventy-five miles from the Park and return. V'le arrived in Monida June 16. The party included Professor Nelson with his wife and two daughters, Elias Nelon and me. Our equip- ment was for that day about the last word-a good light lumber wagon with bows and canvas cover, two spring seats, a mess box in the back, the door of which could be lowered to form a table, a new 12 x 14 tent with stout ridge pole, a substantial sheet iron stove with three joints of pipe, a table with four detachable legs, and ample bedding for six people. Besides this, we had six plant presses with a few thousand driers and white sheets. We had, of course, no oil or gas stove, no cots, no sleeping bags, no air mattresses, 'liVehad two good draft horses for the wagon and a small saddle horse. The trip through the Park and Jackson's Hole took fourteen weeks, all told. On the entire trip some 1,400 numbers were collected. Most of these numbers

I Editor's Note: Mr. Leslie N. Gooding, class of 1903, has sent to the Editors a most interesting and intimate account of the collecting trip of 1899 into Yellowstone Park, accompanied by a map of the itinerary. Because the materi:al overlaps on that submitted by Mrs. Nelson. we are forced to forego its printing in full; but the paper will be filed with the University's historical records. We reproduce a few excerpts and the conclusion of his paper. UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING PUBLICATIONS [CONTINUATION OF UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING PUBLICATIONS IN SCIENCE] Vol. XI, No. 2-pp. 9-12 September IS, 1944

THE 1899 BOTANICAL EXPEDITION INTO YELLOWSTONE PARK

LESLTE N. -GOODING 1 J (Excerpts) P. { Forty-five years have passed since that first real botanical exploration of Yellowstone Park was made. The University then consisted of the old main building, the mechanical hall, 142 students and a faculty of I S. More than half of the students were what We called "prep students," and the professors had to teach high school subj ects. There are still those who remember Professor Soule teaching beginning Latin, twisting his moustache with One hand, pounding the desk with the other, while punctuating his lesson in Latin conjugations with "You must know English grammar.·' The dignity of that faculty made ladies and gentlemen of the "preps" from Wyoming. It was during the fall of 1898 that the rumor was spread of a proposed botanical expedition to Yellowstone the next summer. Professor Nelson was to head it. He had at that time a most able assistant in the person of Elias Nelson (not related). From the student body one young man was chosen to perform necessary duties, and seniors and juniors were applying, offering their services gratis to see the Park. The writer of this account was amazed when the job was offered to him, not even a full fledged freshman with expenses and the salary of ten dollars a month. The Union Pacific and the Oregon Short Line provided Professor Nelson with facilities to l\Iimida, Montana, about seventy-five miles from the Park and return. We arrived in Monida June 16. The party included Professor Nelson with his wife and two daughters, Elias Nelson and me. Our equip- ment was for that day about the last word-a good light lumber wagon with bows and canvas cover, two spring seats, a mess box in the back, the door r\+ ...... :...t, _~._1 -' , -

ERRATA: On Leslie N. Goodding: liThe1899 Botanical Expedi tion into Ye.lLows t.onePar'k'!,

p. 9, line 3, IIGoodingll to "Goodding". Also in footnote. p. la, line 16, "inamoenusll to lIinamoousll• p. la, lines 30-38, tho following words spelled with IIcae" endings should end in IIceaell:IIRanunculaceaell , IIfragac eao II , II eular i ac eee". "Ro saccae ". lIl3oragin",,~cea.ell, IImoniaceaell• p. 10, I me 32, "Dep idtum" to IILepidiumll• p. 11, line 2, IIEnge Lmaann II to ".r.ingelm?nnll. p , 11, line 12, "Pinus al.bIcnul La" to "Pmus flexilis" and followed by II the white buck pine" (Pinus albic3.ulis). 10 University Of Wyoming Publications VOL. XI represented from IS to 40 specimens, a pecimen being enough of the plant to give a good conception of it. After entering the Park we followed up the Madison river to Madison Junction, and then the Gibbon river. At that time no automobiles were in Yellowstone Park. There was little restriction on camping, meadows were numerous, and one camped where he pleased. Pack trips could be made only with permission. The Park was under military supervision. According to the Yellowstone Park booklet put out by the Park Service in 1922, the Park is rich in hot springs, geysers, lakes, canyons, bear, elk, buffalo, deer, birds and animals, and 14 species of trees. Ignored were thousands of acres of willows, fields of lupines, milkvetches, buttercups, violets, and forget-me-nets. Many of the plants of Yellowstone are commonplace. Some are found around the world in northern latitudes. Many are beautiful and some are rare. For a few years after that trip we could recall the exact spot in which we collected such things as the forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica alpestris ), M enyanthes trifoliata, E1'ythronium qranditlorusn, Ranunculus inasnoenus, Fritillaria pudica, Calypso bulbosa, and hundreds of others. I have before me the old collection books of that trip, but now, after forty-five years, it is difficult to recall the setting of these plants except in an indefinite fashion. The collection made in Yellowstone Park in 1899 was the nucleus of the plant work which resulted later in the monumental work, the N ew Manual of Rocky Mountain Botany by Coulter and Nelson, published ten years later. Collections made in 1899 were supplemented by large collections in other portions of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada in succeeding years. Since it is not desirable to catalogue the plants of the Park in this paper, it may be of interest to note the leading families, based on the number of collections of each. These families are the dominant families throughout the Rocky Mountains. The Compositae leads the list with such genera as Artemisia, Senecio, Aster, Erigeron, Antennarui, Solidago, and Chrys- othamnus ; then follows the Ranunculacae with its display of Ranunculus, Aquilegia, Delphinium and Aconitum, the Cruciferae with numerous species of Droba, Depidium, Sisymbrium, Arabis, Thlaspi, and Thelypodium,o Legum- inosae with its great variety of Astragalus, Trifolium and Lupinus,o Saxi- fragacae, represented by Saxifraqa, H euchera, Mitella, and Tellima ; Gros- sulariacae with several species of Ribes; Rosacae with fields of Dasiophora, Potentllla, Fragaria, Ceum, Purshia, and Rubus; Boraginacae represented by Laopula, Cryptanthe, M yosotis, M ertensui, and Litliospermwm ; Pole- moniacea with its display of Phlox, Cilia, and Polenionium; Scrophulariacae with its Penistenion. represented by numerous pecies, Sj'nthyris, Mimulus, and Castilleja; the Gramineae with numerous pikes of Agropyron, Bromus, Festuca, Poa, and Stioa ; Salicaceae with Salix and Populus; and Coniferae with Pinus, Pseudotsuqa, Picea, Abies, and Fuuipcrus. The dominant tree No.2 Gooding-The 1899 Botanical Expedition Into Yellowstone Park II throughout the Park is Lodge-pole pine (Pinus contorta), but Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), and Engelmaann Spruce (Picea engelmannii) are common. Less co~on are Limber PIne (Pinus albicaulis), and Alpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa), The first set of plants from this Yellowstone expedition is deposited in the Rocky Mountain Herbarium at the University of Wyoming. This col- lection and many others made by Professor Nelson, and other collectors of note, make up this monument to science known throughout the United States, and for that matter the world, as the Rocky Mountain Herbarium. It is the writer's hope that some time adequate provision may be made to insure its identity as a great herbarium through the generations to come. It should stand as a scientific monument to that genial gentleman and ardent botanist, Dr. Aven Nelson. For those wishing to review the itinerary of the expedition, the following is recorded:

Date Location Numbers of collections made June 16 Monida, Montana. . ·5409 - 5423 June 18 (Q miles east of Monida, Montana ·5424 - 5447 June 19-20 Midway Station . . . 5448 - 5470 June 20 30 miles east of Monida Red Rock Lake, Montana 5471 - 5479 June 21 Continental Divide, Idaho-Montana Line 5480 - 5486 June 22 ' Near Henry's Lake, Henry's Lake, Idaho .. 5487 - 5492 June 23 Madison Basin, Montana 5493 - 5495 June 23' Madison River, Yellowstone Park 5496 - 5505 June 23 Madison River, near Riverside ·5506 - 5518 June 27 Near Norris 5519- 5525 June 28 Golden Gate.. . 5526- 5555 June 29-30 Glen Creek near Mammoth Hot Springs 5556 - 5589 June 30 Mammoth Hot Springs 5590 - 5603 July 1 Glen Creek , 5604 - 5618 July 1- 4 Mammoth Hot Springs 5619 - 5669 July 6 Undine Falls. . . . 567° - 5693 July 7 Mt. Everts ·5694 - 5703 July 7 Undine Falls 5704 July 7 Wraith Falls 5705 - 5713 July 8 Yancey's - -5714 - 5724 July 9 at Junction with . 5725 - 5729 July 9-10. _ Yellowstone River, Junction Butte ·5730- 5763 July II Amethyst Creek - .. 5764 - 5771 July 12 - - - .. 5772 - 5808 July 13 - ·5809 - 5824 July 14 Soda Butte 5825 - 5840 July 14 - 5841 - 5850 July 14-15 - 5851 - 5880 VOL. XI 12 Univer sity Of Wyoming Publications

Date Location Numbers of collections made July 15 , 5881 - 5886 July 15 Junction Butte 5887 - 5891 July 15 Specimen Ridge 5892 - 5894 July 16 Yancey's, 5895 - 5905 July 16 , Tower Falls .. , .. , , ·5906- 5913 July 17 Yancey's 5914- 5948 July 18 Undine Falls ··············5949 - 5963 July 19 Gardiner River ' 5964 - 6003 July 20-21 Mammoth Hot Springs 6004 - 6060 July 22-24 Obsidian Creek . . . . 6061 - 6II9 July 24 Beaver Lake , 6120-6134 July 25 Norris , 6135-6155 July 26 Sylvan Geyser 6156 - 6167 July 26 Artists' Paint Pots 6168 - 6173 July 26 Sylvan Geyser 6174 - 6189 July 28 , Gibbon Meadows. . . , 6190 - 6197 July 28 Gibbon Canyon 6198 - 6200 July 28 Fire Hole River 6201 - 6202 July 29-30 , Nez Perces Creek 6203 - 6253 July 31 Upper Basin, Riverside 6254 - 6267 August 2 .Iron Spring Creek 6268 - 6284 August 3 Upper Geyser Basin...... 6285 - 6288 August 3 Spring Creek . . . . 6289 - 6291 August 4 'vVest DeLacy Creek 6292 - 6318 August 6 Yellowstone Lake " 6319 - 6348 August 6 Yellowstone Lake (The Thumb) 6349 - 6352 August 8- 9 Lewis River 6353 - 6390 August II-13 Snake River Bridge 6391 - 6453 August 14 Snake River Valley 6454 - 6456 August 15 Snake River, Upper Jackson Hole 6457-6471 August 16 Teton Mountains 6472 - 6543 August 17-19' Jackson's Lake 6544 - 6555 August 20 Snake River near South Boundary 6556 - 6578 August 21 Moose Falls 6579 - 6583 August 21 Lewis River 6584 - 6594 August 21 Lewis Lake 6595 - 6601 August 22-23 , Yellowstone Lake near Lake Hotel 6602 - 6633 August 24 Yellowstone Lake . . . . 6634 - 6660 August 24-25 Yellowstone Canyon 6661 - 6672 August 26 Cascade Creek , 6673 - 6679 ugust 27 Dnnraven Peak , 6680 - 6732 August 28 .. Gibbon Meadows 6733 - 675r August 29-30 , .. Madison Canyon 6752 - 6768 ugust 30 Madison River, 3 miles from Ranger Station. . . . 6769 - 6791 ugu t 3 I Dwelles . . . . 6792 - 6793 September I Henry's Lake 6794 - 6808 September 2 Alaska Basin . . . . 6809 - 68r8 September 3 Monida, Montana , 6819- 6821