contribuNon at this Nme was his involvement Phycological Trailblazer with the Agricultural Experiment StaNon, and he No. 33 laid out and supervised the establishment and planNng of 50 quarter- acre plots at the De Alton Saunders Highmore SubstaNon (CooperaNve Range Experimental StaNon). The goal of this research (Originally printed in the Phycological Newsle6er. was to develop and evaluate new crop species 2010. Vol. 46 No. 2) for grazing and winter forage. He also produced a flora of the ferns and flowering plants of South The inclusion of De Alton Brooks Dakota (Saunders, 1899a). Saunders in this series of “Phycological Saunders spent parts of two years, 1895 Trailblazers” is owing to his pre-1900 studies of and 1896, studying algae, especially brown Pacific coast brown algae and his parNcipaNon as algae, on the coast of California. Saunders (1895) the algal expert in the Harriman Alaska described what he regarded to be a new species ExpediNon during the summer of 1899. Indeed of Costaria, C. re+culata, from near Pacific Grove his moniker during that 2-month cruise to on the Monterey Peninsula. Smith (1942) later Alaska, bestowed on him by none other than based his new genus Dictyoneuropsis on this fellow shipmate John Muir, was “Seaweed species, which he placed in the Lessoniaceae. Saunders”, a name that subsequent generaNons The gene-sequencing studies by Lane et al. of his family affecNonately (2006) resulted in a major refer to him. Although his re-organizaNon of the interest in algae over the Laminariales and revealed full period of his scienfic that the generic disNncNon profession was small, he between Dictyoneurum and made some useful Dictyoneuropsis was not as contribuNons at a Nme that great as previously believed. exploraNon was sNll in Silva (in Pedroche et al., vogue. This also gives me 2008) transferred Saunders’ an opportunity to include Costaria re+culata to his portrait, which Dictyoneurum. From the apparently has never been dates and the localiNes of made available. some of the new taxa Saunders’ early described by Saunders professional career began (1898), he made collecNons at the South Dakota at San Pedro in southern Agricultural and California and Pacific Grove Mechanical College in in central California. He Brookings, South Dakota, spent July through where he served as head of September of 1896 on the the Department, while also Monterey coast. He a professor of botany and De Alton Saunders [Courtesy of Jennifer Miller]. described many new entomology, in the period species, such as Scytosiphon of 1896-1903. He headed an bullosus [now Colpomenia expediNon to the Big Stone Lake region during bullosa (D.A. Saunders) Yamada] (fig. 1), 1896, where he collected 400 specimens of Colpomenia tuberculata, Ectocarpus cor+culatus, forage plants that were added to the herbarium. E. acuminatus [now Feldmannia acuminata (D.A. In 1898, he undertook a study of millet, which Saunders) Hollenb. & I.A. Abbo6], E. involved his classifying millets from more than hemisphaericus [now F. hemisphaerica (D.A. three dozen seed sources. The most notable !1 Fig. 1. Scytosiphon bullosus [now Colpomenia bullosa (D.A. Saunders) Yamada][from Saunders 1898]. Saunders) Hollenb.], E. chitonicolus [now F. of 1899. Saunders’ qualificaNons to be enlisted chi+niola (D.A. Saunders) Levr.], E. ellip+cus [now as one of the botanists (namely, the phycologist) regarded as conspecific with Spongonema might seem limited, given his Midwestern tomentosum (Huds.) Kütz.], E. paradoxus var. agricultural background. One circumstance is pacificus [now Hincksia saundersii (Setch. & N.L. that William A. Setchell of the University of Gardner) P.C. Silva], and Sphacelaria dichotoma California, Berkeley, the person with stronger [now regarded as conspecific with S. divaricata credenNals at the Nme, was to parNcipate on a Mont.]. He also described a new genus of foliose separate expediNon to Alaska, along with a large brown algae, Halorhipis, based on Punctaria conNngent of fellow Berkeley scienNsts. It is a winstonii Anderson (1894). From this Nme period coincidence that two such scienNfic expediNons he described the new genus and species to Alaska would be taking place simultaneously Hapalospongidion gela+nosum (Saunders, that summer (Setchell & Gardner, 1903; Wynne, 1899b). Setchell & Gardner (1924) regarded the 2009). genus as congeneric with Reinke’s (1888) Mr. Edward Henry Harriman (Klein, 2000), Microspongium from Europe. But Hollenberg President of the Union Pacific Railroad and (1942) argued that the two genera were disNnct, worth $60 million at that Nme, made the a view that has been accepted by subsequent decision to sponsor and fully fund an ExpediNon workers. From the same 1899 paper, Saunders’ to Alaska, and with advice from C. Hart record of “Leptonema fasciculatum Reinke” was Merriman he assembled an impressive total of later interpreted by Collins (1907) to be the new 30 scienNsts to accompany him and several species Pylaiella gardneri. Saunders’ (1901b) family members on a summer cruise from Alaria cur+pes, described from central California, Sea6le up into Alaskan waters and as far west as was treated by Setchell & Gardner (1925) as Russia. EssenNally, this grand adventure was the conspecific with A. marginata Postels & Rupr. result of Harriman’s doctor telling him that he Although sNll in South Dakota, Saunders’ needed to take some Nme off and relax. In work on west coast brown algae must have been addiNon to Saunders as the phycologist, the sufficient basis for his being selected to join the scienNfic crew included: C. Hart Merriman (first Harriman Alaska ExpediNon during the summer chief of the U.S. Biological Survey and a founding !2 member of the NaNonal Geographic Society), tents, plus the necessary food, wine and John Muir (naturalist and founder of the Sierra champagne, and fresh water for the trip Club), William Trelease (botanist and director of (Goetzmann & Sloan, 1982). The ship les Sea6le the Missouri Botanical Garden), Henry Ganne6 at 6:00 PM, 31 May. A stop was made in Victoria (chief geologist of the U.S. Geological Survey), on Vancouver Island, where there was Nme to George B. Grinnell (anthropologist and founder visit the Museum. Then the ship moved of the NaNonal Audubon Society), Robert northward along the coast of BriNsh Columbia. Ridgeway (curator of birds of the U.S. NaNonal Once it moved out from the protected Museum and president of the American waterways, many suffered from seasickness. The Ornithologists’ Union), Trevor Kincaid Elder was notorious for being a bad “roller” in (entomologist from the University of high seas. On the 4th of June, a stop was made Washington), William Ri6er (zoologist at the at Merlakala, a village on Anne6e Island, south University of California and president of the of Ketchikan, Alaska, where Father William California Academy of Sciences), and Charles A. Duncan had a missionary se6lement of refugee Keeler (ornithologist and director of the museum naNve Americans. One of the scienNsts was so of the California Academy of Sciences). An arNcle caught up with observaNons that he was almost by Lindsey (1978) included a “staff picture” of les behind. So a sign-out system using pegs on a members on the expediNon and gives brief large painted board was then installed to avoid synopses of the scienNsts aboard. It was anyone being accidentally les behind. The next prefaced by “reminiscences” made by W. Averell day, at Wrangell, Saunders rose at 3 AM to make Harriman, who at age 7 went along on the the most of the low Nde and made his way along adventure and was the last surviving parNcipant. the shoreline with the many large dugout canoes Edward Harriman went to great effort hauled ashore, to gather seaweeds (Goetzmann and expense to make the voyage as comfortable & Sloan, 1982). This was the first real as possible for his scienNfic guests (and his own opportunity to explore on “Alaskan soil”, to take family). Most of the scienNsts had traveled in specimens and make photographs. Then on June “high style” deparNng on May 23 from Grand 6, Skagway was reached, a boom town because Central StaNon in New York City on the “Utopia”, of the discovery of gold. The White Pass railroad Harriman’s train with five luxuriously fi6ed took miners from Skagway to the gold fields. “palace cars” (Goetzmann & Sloan, 1982). The Saunders and four others set out in a small train reached Portland, Oregon, where they met steam launch to explore the area, while others up with Muir and Keeler, who had arrived by rode the White Pass railroad to the summit of train from California. The Harriman party spent White Pass, a distance of 21 miles. The train the night in the Portland Hotel. The next went through Dead Horse Pass, which was morning the special train proceeded north to regarded as the gateway to the gold rush. On Sea6le, where they were met by others, June 8 in Juneau the Elder picked up the five including Edward S. CurNs, the relaNvely young scienNsts who had been in the field. photographer from Sea6le, whose future career The next stop for the Elder was Glacier would be forever molded by his experience on Bay, which was the longest stop made on the the expediNon. CurNs would go on to become expediNon, June 9 – 14. A dozen, including the pre-eminent photographer of NaNve Harriman, hiked for 24 hours to “Howling Valley”, Americans, the recorder of their rich cultures. In with hopes to find a bear; that search was fuNle. Sea6le, the port of embarkaNon, the steamship ExploraNon by a separate party, including Muir, G. W. Elder had been ouri6ed with not only the led to the discovery that the Grand Pacific latest in scienNfic instruments but also with a Glacier was actually divided into three porNons, piano, an organ, a library with 500 books, a and they decided to name the largest of these lantern slide projector, a recording device called lobes the “Harriman Glacier”.