David Douglas, a Naturalist at Work: An Illustrated Exploration Across Two Centuries in the Pacific Northwest PDF
Preview David Douglas, a Naturalist at Work: An Illustrated Exploration Across Two Centuries in the Pacific Northwest
Copyright © 2012 by Jack Nisbet All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by Sasquatch Books 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover illustration: Jeanne Debons Cover design: Anna Goldstein Interior design: Sarah Plein and Anna Goldstein Interior design composition: Sarah Plein Maps by Emily Nisbet Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. eISBN: 978-1-57061830-7 Sasquatch Books 1904 Third Avenue, Suite 710 Seattle, WA 98101 (206) 467-4300 www.sasquatchbooks.com [email protected] Some portions of this book appeared, in different form, in Columbia magazine, We Proceeded On, American Surveyor, and in particular the North Columbia Monthly. v3.1 This book is dedicated to people who work with plants of all persuasions. Thanks to Steve and Karla Rumsey for their long-term dedication to a cause, and special thanks to Claire, Emily, and James. This could not work without you. CONTENTS Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication List of Maps Prologue: Work in Progress Waters of the World: I. Crossing the Columbia Bar Going Their Own Way: II. The People of the Northwest Coast Awakening: III. The Roots of Plateau Culture Science and the Company: IV. Outsiders in the Hudson’s Bay Company Empire Invisible Kin: V. Mixed-Blood Families of the Fur Trade Comrades and Miscreants: VI. Bringing the Northwest to London The Forest and the Trees: VII. After the Fire The Wise Economy of Nature: VIII. Adapting to the Landscape The Iron Sphere: IX. Earth’s Magnetic Pulse Travelers: X. Riding the Wind Chronology Acknowledgments Chapter Notes Illustration and Caption Credits Bibliography About the Author Portrait of David Douglas “Have you seen Douglas? I was greatly impressed by his intelligence and modesty.” —Dr. Thomas Stewart Traill (illustration credit col1.1) LIST OF MAPS 1. Mouth of the Columbia River 2. Pacific Northwest Coast from Cape Disappointment to Grays Harbor 3. Hudson’s Bay Company Interior Trade Houses 4. Hudson’s Bay Company Posts, Pacific Northwest, 1825–1833 5. London, 1828–1829 6. Douglas’s Latitudes for California Missions, 1830–1832 Journal from Douglas’s 1823 collecting trip to the mid-Atlantic (illustration credit col2.1) PROLOGUE Work in Progress “A tall splendid tree; leaves glaucous. The cones being on the top, I was unable to procure any. I went up one, but the top was too weak to bear me.” —David Douglas, above Cascades of the Columbia, September 1825 THE CONES OF EVERGREEN TREES—the seeds of most greenery, when you think of it—tend to grow at their most vibrant extremities. For members of the tribe of true firs, that usually means right at the crown. And since fir cones disperse their seeds by falling apart upon maturity, the only way to collect them at their moment of viability is to reach their exclusive domain. That’s why I am ascending a grand fir, Abies grandis, on this breezy afternoon in early fall.
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