David Douglas, a Naturalist at Work: An Illustrated Exploration Across Two Centuries in the Pacific Northwest

269 Pages·2012·9.21 MB·English

by  Jack Nisbet

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
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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.