Botanical Adventures in Yellowstone, 1899

Professor Aven Nelson, 1899. All photos of Nelson and the Yellowstone expedition are from the Aven Nelson Collection, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

On June 24, 1899, a sentry on routine patrol discovered a party of six camped on the Madison River just inside Yellowstone National Park. Inspection revealed multiple infractions. In her diary, Mrs. Aven Nelson, a member of the party being inspected, recalled the event:

He was appalled to see so many papers on the ground and demanded that they be picked up at once ... There ensued much talk about rules and regulations, in the course of which he discovered that we carried two rifles. After sealing both, he insisted that the signature of Captain Brown would be prerequisite (excerpts from Mrs. Nelson’s diary are from Williams (1984) who “abbreviated and paraphrased” them).

The soldier was shown a letter from the Acting Superintendent of the Park, but was not persuaded. The campers picked up the felt papers they had carefully arranged in the sun, and drove 46 miles to Mammoth (two days travel) where they obtained a permit. Professor Nelson, his family, and two student assistants were in Yellowstone Park ostensibly to document the flora (plant species). But Nelson had grander plans. By the time they left in early September, they had collected, pressed, and dried 30,000 specimens. The project would launch the Rocky Mountain Herbarium at the University of Wyoming—Nelson’s greatest legacy.

An Accidental Botanist

In July of 1887, 28-year-old Aven Nelson came to Laramie, Wyoming Territory, to be Professor of English at the new University of Wyoming. But the Board of Trustees had mistakenly hired two English professors, so Nelson agreed to teach botany and biology. Apparently the six lectures on plants he attended at the Missouri Normal School, and his biology teaching assistantship at Drury College, qualified him for the job (Williams 1984).

University of Wyoming faculty in the early days; Professor Nelson on right with bicycle.

It was a fortunate change in profession. Wyoming’s flora was still poorly known, with abundant opportunities for discovery and academic advancement. Nelson’s career would be long and productive. He remained active in botany at the University of Wyoming almost until his death in 1952, at age 93.

A Botanical Expedition of Vast Importance

In the fall of 1898, extraordinary news spread across campus. The excitement was still fresh in Leslie Goodding’s mind 59 years later:

A botanical expedition of vast importance was planned for the following summer. Some three or four months were to be spent in Yellowstone Park collecting plants ... Many students, juniors and seniors, were anxious to accompany Dr. Nelson on that expedition, and were willing to work for nothing just to see the Park ... this was in the days when autos were much like hen’s teeth and trips through the Park by stage were expensive (Goodding 1958).

Nelson hired 19-year-old Goodding as a field assistant and chore boy, at $10 per month and all expenses paid. The other assistant was Elias Nelson, Nelson’s first graduate student and no relation (Williams 1984).

Nelson wrote to the park requesting permission to collect plants “to represent the vegetation of the Park in full ... dried specimens of the smaller plants and such twigs of the larger as may conveniently be preserved on the usual herbarium sheets, 12 x 16 inches.” An affirmative reply came within the month (Army Era records, YNP Archives).

Nelson’s 1899 collecting permit, in its entirety … how things have changed! (YNP Archives)

He also contacted botanist Per Axel Rydberg, who was preparing a Catalogue of the Flora of Montana and the Yellowstone National Park (Rydberg 1900). Rydberg replied, explaining what Nelson most likely already knew:

The flora of the park is, however well worked up as several collectors have been in there, viz., the Hayden Survey, C.C. Parry, Letteman, Burglehous, &c. The one that has done the most, however, is Frank Tweedy of U.S. Geological Survey. He spent two whole summers in the park.

Rydberg recommended that Nelson focus on unexplored areas: “I would advise you to select the mountains east and south east of Yellowstone Lake. None of the collectors that I know of has collected in that region. Tweedy only touched it at the south end of the Lake.”

Rydberg drew a map of areas covered by previous botanists, and sent it to Nelson.

To Yellowstone—for Adventure & Science

On June 13, 1899, botany students Leslie Goodding and Elias Nelson arrived by boxcar in Monida, Montana, then the western gateway to the Park. They unloaded a wagon, three horses, provisions and gear, including six plant presses and several thousand “driers and white sheets” (Goodding 1944). Two days later, their mentor, Professor Aven Nelson, his wife Allie (Celia Alice), and their two daughters arrived by passenger train. It was the start of a 14-week botanical adventure in Yellowstone.

They left Monida on June 19, traveling east up the valley of the Red Rock River where they did their first collecting. “As we approached the Continental Divide and the Idaho line, we were impeded by mud, and the wagon had to be unloaded to get it free,” noted Mrs. Nelson. The next day they crossed the Continental Divide into Idaho, camped near Henry’s Lake, collected the following morning, and moved on, entering the park on June 23 (descriptions of field work in the Park are from Williams 1984 unless noted otherwise).

Nelson’s wagon had a mess box in the back, with a door that could be lowered for a table. They also carried a large table with detachable legs, and a sheet iron stove. When the weather was fine, they dined outside.

For the expedition, Nelson purchased a 12 x 14 foot canvas tent with a stout ridge pole and a reinforced hole for the stove chimney. “For twelve consecutive weeks, no one slept under a roof other than the tent, and the two boys usually under the vaulted star-studded skies” (Nelson ca. 1937).

They could legally camp wherever they wished, as long as they were at least 100 feet from roads. Park regulations required they leave their campsite “clean, with trash either buried or removed so as not to offend other visitors.” Hanging clothing, hammocks and other articles within 100 feet of a road was banned, as was bathing without suitable clothes (Culpin 2003).

“The men fished but caught nothing,” Mrs. Nelson wrote, until “Elias developed the technique of throwing his plant-digging chisel through a big fish as it moved upstream.” On July 2, he caught 23 fish.

Most days they broke camp early and traveled park roads, stopping at promising sites. The men went out to collect, each with a vasculum over his shoulder—an oblong metal container (today we use plastic bags). Many plants were collected in their entirety, but for larger species they took parts—a section of stem with leaves, another with flowers, and fruit if available.

Botanists in the field; note plant presses in wagon, vasculum on ground. They all wore the popular felt campaign hats—today’s Mounty or Smokey the Bear hats.

A Nelson vasculum and fieldbooks (Marriott photo).

In late afternoon, they would look for a suitable campsite with water, firewood, a flat spot for the tent, and grass for the horses. Plant processing began as soon as the tent was pitched and materials unloaded, often continuing into evening.

Plants were pressed and dried, using felt blotters to absorb moisture. Each specimen was carefully arranged between sheets of white paper and added to a growing stack alternating with blotters. Then the stack was tightly bound between wooden covers. The next day, presses were taken apart, damp blotters replaced, and presses reassembled. This continued daily until the specimens were dry.

Leslie Goodding sits between stacks of blotters, checking specimens. This photo was taken near the end of the expedition, by which time he had worn the soles off his boots.

Nelson brought along several thousand reusable blotters, but maintaining an adequate supply of dry ones was difficult. Ideally damp blotters were spread out to dry in the sun. But when it rained for days at a time, they kept a fire going all day in the tent, with plant presses and blotters carefully arranged around the stove.

They mainly collected near roads, even though earlier collectors had done the same (Goodding 1944). Occasionally two men made long excursions on foot while the third stayed with Mrs. Nelson and the girls. Notably, they never reached the unexplored country recommended by Rydberg. Why did Professor Nelson ignore obvious opportunities for discovery? Lack of roads probably was a factor. But there was another consideration: By the time they reached the southern part of the park, they were short one man.

On July 26, Elias and Leslie were collecting near the popular Artist Paint Pots, where visitors were routinely warned to stay on established paths (Guptill 1892-1893). Elias wandered off anyway, sinking a leg in hot mud to the knee. He jumped to high ground and pulled off his shoe and sock, along with a large patch of skin. A huge blister ran up his leg.

“With the help of several nearby tourists, I sprinkled the wound with soda, bandaged it, and covered the bandage with flour,” wrote Mrs. Nelson in her diary. “Elias was in great pain, but never uttered one groan.” At the Upper Geyser Basin, a visiting physician examined the burn and recommended Elias go to the hospital at Fountain or return home. So Professor Nelson drove him to Madison, where Elias took the stage to Monida, understandably disappointed that his great adventure was over.

Adventurous botanist mid-photo; Mrs. Nelson and daughters are standing by tree, lower left corner.

In early August, impassable muddy roads forced a two-day layover at Yellowstone Lake. When the weather improved, they drove south to the Teton Range, where Nelson and Goodding collected alpine plants for the first time on the trip. Then it rained for a week. Snow fell on August 19. By the end of August, the Nelsons were ready to go home. They reached Monida on September 3, making scattered collections en route, and two days later were back in Laramie.

The Adventure Ends, but the Science Continues

During their 14 weeks in Yellowstone, the Nelson party collected roughly 30,000 specimens (Williams 1984)—an astounding number given the conditions. Yet only about 500 species were represented (precise number is unknown due to subsequent changes in classification and nomenclature). Most specimens were duplicates—multiple collections of a given species from a given site. Clearly, documenting the flora of the Park was not Nelson’s primary objective. He was intent on expanding the botany program at the University of Wyoming, specifically the herbarium (a collection of plant specimens and associated data).

With just 1,500 specimens, the University herbarium offered little prior to the Yellowstone project. That changed dramatically—1,400 specimens were added directly and thousands more through exchange. Nelson knew that institutions and collectors would want specimens from Yellowstone, the famous natural wonderland, and he collected accordingly—often 20-30 duplicates per species per site (Nelson ca. 1937). A full set of duplicates went to the US Herbarium at the Smithsonian (the Park had no herbarium at that time). Smaller sets were distributed across the US, in Europe, and as far away as India, in exchange for specimens for Nelson’s herbarium. Sets also were sold to raise money for field work (Williams 1984), a practice no longer permitted by the National Park Service or the University of Wyoming.

Shortly after returning from Yellowstone, Nelson convinced the Board of Trustees to designate a separate institution for the University’s plant collection—the Rocky Mountain Herbarium. They intended it to be “an accessible and serviceable collection” of the region’s plants, but it has far exceeded their expectations. At 1.3 million specimens, it is now the tenth largest herbarium in the US.

Aven Nelson in the old Rocky Mountain Herbarium. It now occupies the third floor of the Aven Nelson Building, University of Wyoming, Laramie.

We call Aven Nelson the Father of Wyoming Botany, a delightful irony given that he became a botanist by bureaucratic error. In his long career, he collected many thousands of specimens (not counting duplicates), described numerous new species, published more than 100 academic articles, and mentored students who became prominent botanists themselves. But his greatest legacy is the Rocky Mountain Herbarium, a world-class institution built on a foundation of Yellowstone plants.

Aven Nelson at 85.

Note: Yellowstone National Park now has its own herbarium, considered an untapped gem. Established in 2005 in the park’s Heritage and Research Center, the Yellowstone Herbarium contains over 17,000 specimens of vascular and non-vascular plants, fungi, and lichens. The aquatic plants collection is particularly extensive. The herbarium is available to visitors and scientists alike, for research or tour. Herbaria were originally invented to help people identify plants suitable for gardening and propagation. Today’s herbaria, however, document current species distributions, as well as aid with plant identification. The Rocky Mountain Herbarium and Yellowstone Herbarium are prime examples of the United States’ prominent herbaria. — Heidi Anderson, Park Botanist/Wetland Ecologist

Sources

Culpin, MS. 2003. For the benefit and enjoyment of the people: a history of the concession development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872–1966. YCR-CR-2003-01. Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth, Wyoming, USA.

Goodding, L. 1944. The 1899 botanical expedition into Yellowstone Park. University of Wyoming Publications 11:9-12.

Goodding, L. 1958. Autobiography of the Desert Mouse. San Pedro Valley News, June 26. 

Guptill, A.B. 1892-93. All about Yellowstone Park: a practical guide. F.J. Haynes, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.

Nelson, A. c. 1937. The Rocky Mountain Herbarium (typed manuscript). University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Aven Nelson Collection, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.

Rocky Mountain Herbarium. 2015. Specimen database. University of Wyoming.

Rydberg, PA. 1898-1899. Letters to Aven Nelson. University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Aven Nelson Collection, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.

Rydberg, PA. 1900. Catalogue of the flora of Montana and the Yellowstone National Park. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 1:1-492.

Williams, RL. 1984. Aven Nelson of Wyoming. Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Williams, RL. 2003. A region of astonishing beauty: the botanical explorations of the Rocky Mountains. Roberts Rinehart Publishers, Lanham, Maryland, USA.

Photo by Bonnie Heidel, Wyoming Natural Diversity Database.

Author Hollis Marriott has worked as a field botanist in Wyoming and South Dakota for more than 40 years, for federal and state agencies, and private organizations. Her specialty is plant and natural area conservation on public lands. She also is a Research Associate with the Rocky Mountain Herbarium at the University of Wyoming, where the spirit of Aven Nelson provides a steady source of inspiration.

Living Botanical History

Mrs. Aven Nelson holds a “stout carpenter’s chisel” used to dig up plants in Yellowstone Park.  Student assistant Leslie Goodding looks on.  Between them are felt “blotters” for drying pressed plants.

Last week I was invited to do living history, also called historical reenactment.  Fortunately, I accepted.  I say “fortunately” because … it was so much fun!  It was like being kids again—when we could “be” cowboys, detectives, astronauts, explorers or whatever we wished!  In this case, we were botanical explorers freshly returned from Yellowstone Park in 1899.

The occasion was an open house at the Rocky Mountain Herbarium, University of Wyoming—celebrating 122 years of service to the botanical community, and the exciting prospects of expansion (at a time when we bemoan the closing of collections).  Through demonstrations and exhibits, guests learned about plant collecting, specimen preparation, the value of herbaria, and the importance of our own herbarium.  At a million specimens, it's the ninth largest in the US, and is the largest collection of Rocky Mountain plants.

Student intern mounts a pressed dried specimen on herbarium paper with white glue.

Open house photos by B. Heidel, Wyoming Natural Diversity Database.

Botany Professor Greg Brown and Herbarium Manager Ernie Nelson describe a bright future for the Rocky Mountain Herbarium.  Behind them Aven Nelson is listening, surely a happy man.

The Rocky Mountain Herbarium began as the vision of one man—Aven Nelson.  Ironically, he was hired to teach English at the brand new University of Wyoming in 1887.  There were only six faculty, yet somehow the Board of Trustees mistakenly hired two English professors.  So Nelson’s career veered unexpectedly into biology, and then botany.  It was long and illustrious, ending with his death in 1952 (age 93).

In 1899, Nelson obtained permission from the US Army to collect plants in Yellowstone National Park.  He, his family and two student assistants traveled by horse-draw wagon and camped out for 14 weeks, returning home with 30,000 specimens! (they recently wrote of their adventures in Botanists in Paradise).  Most were duplicates, which were compiled into sets for exchange with herbaria around the world.  Other sets were sold to herbaria and private collectors to raise money for field work.  The Yellowstone project established the herbarium as a reputable and important institution, and the Board of Trustees of the University designated it the "Rocky Mountain Herbarium" that fall.

At the open house, I had the privilege of being Mrs. Nelson.  It was a special treat as I’ve been visiting with Aven and Allie Nelson’s grandson (97!), who grew up in his grandparents' home, and as a kid helped granddad with botany projects.  It was great fun to tell Tom I would be his grandmother for a day.  Ali, a history student, played 19-year old Leslie Goodding, one of the two student assistants in Yellowstone.

Mrs. Nelson reviews a field book; Leslie Goodding shows his “catch” for the day—a vasculum full of plants ready to be pressed.

Leslie Goodding replacing blotters, near the end of the expedition.  AHC.

The open house was a success—the herbarium was full of visitors.  Mrs. Nelson and young Mr. Goodding had a steady audience for over an hour!  They somehow managed to come up with a computer and slideshow of the photos that Professor Nelson took during the expedition—a convenient if puzzling convergence of the present and the past.

[If you’re on a mobile device and can’t view the show, many of the old photos are here.]

Botanists in Paradise—a letter to the Earth

Last week I received a long hand-written letter.  After reading the first few paragraphs, I found myself in a state of shock!  It had been written by Aven Nelson, first botany professor at the University of Wyoming; his wife, Celia Alice; and Leslie Goodding, one of the early botany undergrads.  But this is not the first Letter to the Earth from Professor Nelson.  Several years ago, he left one on my truck—about the Laramie columbine.

I’ve transcribed the letter verbatim.  Bracketed comments are mine.

--- ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ---

September 23, 2015

34985 North Pearly Gates East

Elysian Fields, Paradise

Dr. Hollis Marriott

Associate, Rocky Mountain Herbarium

Department of Botany, University of Wyoming

Laramie, Wyoming

Dear Dr. Marriott:  [not sure why they think I have a PhD]

We were most happy to hear of the upcoming open house for the Rocky Mountain Herbarium.  Professor Nelson received the flyer by email, with the help of a recent arrival.  We have such fond memories of the momentous project that laid the foundation of the herbarium.  We are writing to describe that trip and its lasting impact: the Rocky Mountain Herbarium, Professor Nelson’s greatest legacy.  Perhaps you will find occasion to share these stories and photos with attendees at the open house.

In this account, we occasionally refer to an individual writer for clarity.

Leslie Goodding:  In the fall of 1898, extraordinary news spread across campus: Professor Nelson would be going to Yellowstone Park the next summer!  This would be a botanical expedition of vast importance—three or four months collecting plants.  He had announced that he would take along two student assistants.  Of course many students were anxious to accompany Professor Nelson on that expedition, and were willing to work for nothing just to see the Park.  I was only 19, and just finishing high school where I took a botany class from Professor Nelson.  Apparently I made a good impression, for in spite of my inexperience, he hired me as a student assistant—at $10 per month and all expenses paid.  I couldn’t believe my good fortune!

Geyser-gazing in 1899.

Yellowstone—a wonderland of geysers, hot springs, waterfalls and wildlife—was America’s first National Park, designated in 1872.  We Wyoming citizens were proud to have the Park in our state but … most of us could only dream of visiting.  The cost of a commercial stage tour was prohibitive.  Thus it was quite extraordinary that a university professor—annual salary $1800—would be traveling in Yellowstone for 14 weeks with his family and two student assistants!

Professor Nelson's first graduate student, Elias Nelson (no relation), was the other assistant.  On June 13, 1899, he and Mr. Goodding rode a Union Pacific freight train to Monida, Montana—western gateway to the Park—with equipment and supplies.  The local citizens were puzzled when the boys unloaded a wagon, three horses, harnesses and saddle; canvas tent and bedding; cook stove, table with detachable legs, benches, chairs, and crates of provisions; and thousands of sheets of heavy felt paper.

Mrs. Nelson:  Professor Nelson, our daughters, and I arrived two days later.  We were all eager to begin the trip!  I began my diary entries, and encouraged Neva [older daughter] to do the same.  The girls made a strong impression on young Mr. Goodding.  He came from a poor family in the tiny town of Granite east of Laramie, and his English was hardly perfect.

Leslie Goodding:  I remember that day!  When they arrived, I realized I had acquired two English teachers, a young lady thirteen years of age and a tiny tot of eight.  Professor Nelson and his wife tolerated no sloppy English in their daughters.  Naturally it hurt like the blazes to have my speech corrected by two little girls but I swallowed my pill.

We left Monida on June 19, in our light lumber wagon.  In bad weather, we stretched a canvas bonnet over the wooden hoops, but more often we traveled coverless, enjoying the scenery.  The driver and a second man sat on state-of-the-art spring seats.  The third rode the small black saddle horse named Grace.  Mrs. Nelson and the girls sat on the passenger seat behind the driver.

Mr. Goodding at the reins.  Nelson ladies sit behind.

Professor Nelson:  We were six in all, and not a shirker in the lot.  We carried a brand new canvas tent, 12 x 14 feet in size, with a stout ridgepole and a reinforced hole for the stove chimney.  For twelve consecutive weeks, no one slept under a roof other than the tent, and the two boys usually under the vaulted star-studded skies.

We all wore felt campaign hats.

The sheet iron woodstove could be used inside the tent for cooking as well as warmth.  But when the weather was fine, we cooked and ate outside.  Can you imagine?  It was absolutely wonderful to dine in flower-filled meadows with snowy peaks in the distance!

The box-like object by Neva Nelson's feet is a plant press.

We carried enough food for the entire trip, but fortunately did not have to subsist entirely on rations.  The streams and lakes teemed with fish so large that they broke the only line we had with us.  Most evenings the men fished, but they caught nothing … until Elias developed the technique of throwing his plant-digging chisel though a big fish as it moved upstream.  On July 2, he caught 23 fish!

Most days we broke camp early.  We traveled Park roads, stopping at promising sites where there might be plant species we hadn’t yet found.  The men went out to collect, each with a vasculum across his shoulder [for carrying collected plants; today we mostly use plastic bags].  Smaller plants were taken in their entirety, including roots.  For larger species, we selected representative parts—a section of the stem with leaves, a good number of flowers, and fruit if available.

Professor Nelson's vasculum and several of our Yellowstone field books.

We collected many many duplicates—30,000 in all.  [This number is unbelievable! ... but true.]  These were sent to herbaria around the world, in exchange for specimens to add to the University of Wyoming herbarium.  Some sets were sold to institutions and private collectors (including one in India!), to raise money for summer field work and a student assistant during the school year.  At that time, the University provided no financial support for the herbarium.

Most days we travelled and collected until late afternoon, and then looked for a camping site with water, firewood, a flat spot for the tent, and grass for the horses.  Plant pressing commenced as soon as the tent was pitched and materials unloaded, often continuing into evening and sometimes the next morning.

We know you are a field botanist, Dr. Marriott, but it’s unlikely that you are familiar with field methods of our time, so we shall explain.  To preserve plants, we pressed and dried them in the field, as you modern botanists do on extended trips, but of course we had no electricity, refrigeration, nor inside facilities.  After removing a collected plant from the vasculum, we cleaned it of any dirt, and carefully arranged it between sheets of thin paper.  It was added to a growing stack of specimens, alternating with “blotters”or "driers"—12 x 17 inch sheets of heavy felt paper used to absorb moisture.  Stacks of pressed plants were tightly bound between wooden covers.  [Today we still press plants, but generally we use corrugated cardboard and driers of some kind; see this post.]

The next day we took the presses apart.  Damp blotters were replaced with dry ones, and the presses reassembled.  We continued this way until the plants were dry … in addition to pressing daily collections.

Professor Nelson checks drying plants (near the end of the expedition, hence the whiskers).

We dried damp blotters by spreading them carefully on the ground in the sun.  But this got us into trouble on our first day in the Park!  A soldier appeared and was appalled to see so many papers scattered about.  He demanded they be picked up at once.  Then he found our rifles.  After sealing them, he sent us to Mammoth to meet with Captain Brown, an extra 46 miles—two days of travel.  And Professor Nelson had already obtained permission from the Army in January!  [In 1899, the US Army was in charge of the Park; there was no National Park Service until 1916.]

Though we carried several thousand reusable blotters, this wasn’t enough when it rained for days at a time.  Then we set up the tent, gathered wood, and kept a fire going all day to dry plant presses and blotters carefully arranged around the stove.  You can see for yourself that we kept working during rainy weather—if you look closely at our Yellowstone specimens, you will sometimes find bits of felt blotter paper stuck to the plants.

Hydrothermal features are the Park's greatest attractions!  We visited many. [Nelson ladies by trees lower left.]

At the Spone with retired superintendent George Henderson, such a wonderful guide!

Mrs. Nelson:  One major mishap befell us.  Perhaps we were fortunate there was only one given the wildness of the Park in those days, but I so wish it hadn’t happened!  On July 26, Elias and Leslie were collecting near the popular “Artist Paint Pots”—

“They consist of numerous openings in the highly colored clay, and are intensely curious, their brilliant coloring and fantastic shapes being the admiration of all.  But visitors should avoid leaving the regular paths, as the treacherous character of this formation renders it quite unsafe.” (1894 Yellowstone Park Guide, A.B. Guptill)

Indeed, when Elias stepped off the path a bare two feet, his left leg sank into hot mud.  He jumped to higher ground, and pulled off his shoe and sock along with a large patch of skin from his ankle.  A huge blister ran up his leg.  Leslie raced back to camp, saddled Grace, and returned to Elias, who rode to camp at a gallop.  With the help of several nearby tourists, I sprinkled the wound with soda, bandaged it, and covered the bandage with flour.  Elias was in great pain, but never uttered one groan.

I redressed the burn morning and evening.  At Upper Geyser Basin we met a Dr. Irish, who examined it and found it serious.  Elias must go to the hospital at Fountain, or return home.  We drove to Madison and put Elias on the stage back to Monida, all broken up over leaving.

Park roads were well-constructed, but many turned to mud when it rained.

This is the curious Golden Gate.  [Click on image to view sign and approaching wagon.]

We had to spend several dreary days at Yellowstone Lake, unable to travel due muddy roads.

By mid August, it was obvious that the season was ending.  We were finding fewer plants to collect.  The weather was deteriorating, and the roads turned to mud.  Once we had to completely unload the wagon to get it unstuck.  On August 19, it snowed!  But we continued to travel during the spells of good weather, collecting occasionally, taking photographs. Finally, in early September, we drove back to Monida to catch the train to Laramie.

Leslie Goodding:  I could see the Nelsons were ready to go home.  They collected very little, and Mrs. Nelson was busy with laundry in preparation for the train trip.  I suppose I was ready too … after all, I had worn the soles off my only pair of boots!  But to be honest, I was still just as excited as the day I found out I was going to Yellowstone Park ... the spark was still in my eyes:

It was just as well the expedition was almost over—the soles were gone from my boots!

Dr. Marriott, we hope that you find field botany as exciting and satisfying as we did.  We greatly appreciate the contributions you and many others continue to make to the Rocky Mountain Herbarium.  We sincerely hope that there’s a bright and bountiful future ahead for that great institution.

Sincerely,

[signed]

Dr. Aven Nelson

Mrs. Celia Alice Nelson

Mr. Leslie N. Goodding

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Now home to one million specimens, the Rocky Mountain Herbarium is the largest collection of Rocky Mountain plants and a world-renown institution.  We are celebrating with an open house on Thursday, October 1, 4-6 pm.  Rumor has it that Mrs. Nelson and Mr. Goodding will return to Earth to share their stories of Yellowstone.  We hope you can come!

Sources

Photos from the American Heritage Center, with the exception of the vasculum.

Aven Nelson Papers, 1870-1983.  American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie.  Guide.

Goodding, LN.  1944.  The 1899 botanical expedition into Yellowstone Park.  University of Wyoming Publication 11:9-12.

Goodding, LN.  1958.  Autobiography of the Desert Mouse.  San Pedro Valley News; Thursday, July 10.

Nelson, A. No date [1930s]. The Rocky Mountain Herbarium, in Aven Nelson papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie. Guide.

Williams, RL.  1984.  Aven Nelson of Wyoming.  Colorado Associated University Press.

Stuck – in a Land of Flat Plants

Plant specimens waiting to be shelved for posterity.

Lucy Corrander says it’s time for the next stuck-foot gathering already!  I was caught by surprise, but I knew I would be “stuck” in the Rocky Mountain Herbarium, with my camera, so I made it a dual-purpose visit.  I wasn’t “stuck” as in “be or remain in a specified place or location, typically one perceived as tedious or unpleasant” (New Oxford American Dictionary).  I like being in the herbarium.  Rather I was “stuck” as directed (but not randomly ... sorry, Lucy)

“plant your foot firmly in a roughly random place and see what you can see without moving.  Best is when you plant both feet.”

Aven Nelson's vasculum and field books.

I planted both feet on a table in the prep room – yes, on top of it – so I could point the camera straight down on memorabilia of Aven Nelson, Father of Wyoming Botany.  Nelson came to Laramie, Wyoming Territory, as one of five faculty hired for the brand new university in 1887.  He was to teach English, but the Board of Trustees mistakenly hired two English professors; the better-qualified Mr. Smith got the job.  Nelson was asked to teach biology, botany, horticulture, agriculture and calisthenics, and to oversee the library.  He accepted.  After several years, his responsibilities narrowed to botany and horticulture, and finally just botany.  Largely self-taught, he had a long and illustrious career.  The Rocky Mountain Herbarium is generally considered to be his greatest contribution.

In the old days a botanist put collected plants in a vasculum while in the field.  Now we mostly use plastic bags.

Some readers may ask “What’s an herbarium?”  It’s a collection of preserved plants – specifically plants or plant parts that have been dug up or cut off, pressed, dried, and mounted on 11.5” x 16.5” archival paper, usually with water-based glue.  In the old days, plants were attached with thin strips of tape, or even sewn to the sheet.  A label contains information about where the plant was collected, habitat, collector and date, and anything else noteworthy.  People sometimes think there must be a protective cover, but not.  Yet when properly processed and stored, herbarium specimens last centuries.

The sheets are stored in folders in air-tight cabinets – organized by family, genus, species, and subspecies and variety if applicable.  There are 825,000 mounted specimens in the Rocky Mountain Herbarium.  Another 350,000 are still in newspapers, waiting to be processed.

Gray alder collected by Aven Nelson and Elias Nelson (not related) in Yellowstone Park in 1899.

Label from the gray alder specimen.  Elias was Aven Nelson's first graduate student.

Nelson's Yellowstone field book; gray alder entry is on the right.

This being summer, Wyoming field botanists are at work right now processing the day’s harvest (it’s 8 PM as I write).  Plant specimens are removed from plastic field bags, cleaned of dirt, and placed between sheets of newspaper – carefully arranged to show everything a future researcher might want to examine.  Collection data are recorded in a field book or digital device.  The specimen is added to a growing stack, alternating with corrugated cardboard.  This continues until all plants are in the press, then it's bound tightly with cord or straps, and set somewhere to dry.  Botanists in base camps with electricity can use a plant drier, where the heat of 100 watt light bulbs circulates through the cardboard, drying plants in several days or less.  The more transient may use the dashboard of their field vehicle parked into the sun, or tie the press to the vehicle roof if the weather is hot.

Tools of the trade (I didn't take this photo from the prep room table).

In the old days, plants were dried using felt blotters between specimens in the press.  Every day they had to be replaced with dry ones.  Keeping a supply of dry blotters on hand was a miserable job in wet weather:

"We sit for hours before a hot camp fire, with the sweat pouring down our face, to completely dry our papers and plants.  How I wish the plants dried at once, but often it takes several days and sometimes a week." (unknown collector, in A Wild Flower by any other Name by Karen Nilsson)

Leslie Goodding, Aven Nelson's 19-year old student assistant, pressing plants in Yellowstone Park in 1899.  It must be the end of the field season judging by his shoes (click on image to view).

Large batches of dried plants periodically arrive at the Rocky Mountain Herbarium to be added to the collection.  First they’re put in a deep freeze to kill any pests, then they’re added to the backlog of specimens waiting to be mounted.  When it’s their turn, collection data are entered into a database, and herbarium labels are printed.  Everything then goes to the prep room – where my feet were stuck.  It’s here that dried pressed plants and their labels are glued to sheets of paper.

Plant mounting station.

Newly-mounted plants are stacked with wax paper and felt sheets between specimens, and left to dry overnight.  Sand-filled sections of inner tubes are used as weights.

Though my feet were stuck, I could twist around far enough to see the clean-up area.

Why do we do this?  … because we can’t just say that a particular plant species grows in particular place, even if we are “experts.”  If we document our report with a specimen – deposited in a reputable accessible repository – all kinds of potential problems are avoided.  Everyone makes identification errors, even experts.  Plant names may revised with additional study – and our specimen can be used for such studies.  And on and on, as Vicky Funk of the US National Herbarium convincingly explains in 100 Uses for an Herbarium (Well at Least 72).

To my right I had a view of herbarium cabinets (above).  At the Rocky Mountain Herbarium, cabinets are on tracks that can be shifted to open up aisles, a system called … but wait!  Who is that man at the very end of the row, staring at me?!

His gaze was stern.

It was Aven Nelson, Father of Wyoming Botany, watching over his herbarium.

While I was staring back at Dr. Nelson, another botanist showed up.  Laurie asked why I was standing on the table.  When I explained, she chuckled and kindly posed for a photo.