George Bird Grinnell Symposium
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George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938) was a multifaceted person who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for his work in paleontology, wildlife conservation, ethnology of Plains Indians, and as editor of Forest and Stream magazine. Grinnell was instrumental in the protection of wildlife in Yellowstone National Park and the creation of Glacier National Park. He created the first national Audubon movement, was cofounder with Teddy Roosevelt of the Boone and Crockett Club, and was a leading proponent of the concept of the true sportsman.
Grinnell was born in Brooklyn, NY on September 20, 1849 and remained a New Yorker throughout his life. In 1859 his family moved to Audubon Park where he became friends with the Audubon family, played with the Audubon children and went for three years to Lucy Audubon’s one-room school. In 1870 he graduated from Yale University and earned his Ph.D. there in 1880.
Grinnell’s first venture in the American West as on the 1870 Yale Student Expedition. Thereafter he made annual trips to the West in most years. He visited Grinnell Glacier, in Glacier National Park, for the last time in 1926.
Yet, Grinnell’s life was even more rich and interesting than thus far described. Click on the “GBG Bio” tab for a more complete biographical sketch.
1870 Yale Student Expedition: O. C. Marsh, Buffalo Bill Cody, Major Frank North.
1871 Worked in the family firm, assisted O. C. Marsh in his spare time. GBG began to assemble his own collection of birds. Grew to over 400 birds. (Harris, p. 100 & f.n. 154). GBG was unable to go on the 1871 Yale Student Expedition because he would have to be away from the family firm too long. (Harris, p. 103).
1872 Pawnee Buffalo Hunt: Luther “Lute” North
1874 Grinnell dissolved Grinnell and Company. Grinnell moved to New Haven to work with O.C. Marsh. He spent the next three years here (? Harris, p. 128). Grinnell’s position at the Peabody put him at the leading edge of American paleontology during the 1870s.
1874 Black Hills Expedition: Gen. George Armstrong Custer, Lute North, Bloody Knife, Mitch Bouyer, discovery of gold,
1875 Ludlow Expedition: Carroll, MT. Yellowstone NP, William Ludlow, Edward S. “Ned” Dana, Yellowstone Kelly, Liver-eating Johnson, Lt. Gustavus C. Doane. Carroll Trail, Camp Baker, Bozeman, Fort Ellis,
1876 Sioux Indian Campaign, Battle of the Little Big Horn, Grinnell was on the family farm at Milford, CT. 1876 Philadelphia Exposition.
1876 Became Natural History editor of Forest and Stream magazine (Harris, p. 197) / Peabody Museum.
1877 Ranching on Buffalo Bill and Frank North ranch in Wyoming
1878 Yale / Forest and Stream. Hunting trip to the Great Plains (Nebraska). During 1878 and 1879 GBG made his first major contributions to the world of science, an AJS paper on a marine invertebrate collected on the 1870 Yale Expedition.
1880 In the spring of 1880 he received a Ph.D. (in Osteology?); diss. The Osteology of Geococcyx americanus (now G. californianus). 10 years as Marsh’s assistant, of which six were spent on his doctoral degree. ;
1880: Odontornithes. (Harris, pp. 204-205) Odontornithes: Marsh, Grinnell, Harger.
1881 GBG increased the length of Forest and Stream by two pages. Nearly every issue of the journal after 1880 contained editorials urging game protection and condemning hunting practices thought to be unsportsmanlike (Harris, pp. 220-221).
1883 GBG bought a 1100-acre ranch in Shirley Basin, southeastern Wyoming Territory, on the advice of Luther North. Stocked it with 3000 sheep and hired William Harlow Reed to manage it (Reed had been a collector for Marsh at Como Bluff). 7,500 ft elevation. He replaced the sheep with cattle and horses, but the elevation was too high and the livestock died during the winters. GBG seemed to like the idea of owning a Western ranch but, was not willing to invest the time and energy to make it profitable. The ranch was sold in 1903.
Blackfeet Starvation Winter
1883-1884 The “Starvation Winter” for Blackfeet Indians. (Harris, p. 391). The “Starvation Winter” had demonstrated that the reservation system was greatly flawed. (Harris, p. 393).
1884 James W. Schultz writes to GBG describing the conditions on the Piegan reservation. As many as 600 Indians starved to death. (Harris, p. 393)
1884 “Beginning in 1884, Grinnell visited the Blackfeet reservation near Browning, Montana nearly every summer for the rest of his life.” (Harris, p 5). ??? GBG did not meet Shultz until 1885. ?? See p. 394.
1884 GBG joined the forces of opposition to excessive plume hunting in mid-1884 (Harris, p. 266)
1884 The AOU Committee on Bird Protection drafts a “Model Law” for the protection of non-game birds. (pdf). The “Model Law” urged municipalities to ban the killing of birds, or the collection of their eggs and nests, except for those who could demonstrate a “scientific” reason for doing so. (Weidensaul, 2007, pp. 138-139)
1884 In August, 1884, GBG and Arnold Hauge of the U.S. Geological Survey visited YellowstoneNational Park in order to gather evidence in support of prospecting the preserve from increasing commercial exploitation. Hague was a leading expert on the park; his first trip to Yellowstone was as a geologist on Clarance King’s 1870 survey to the fortieth parallel and in 1883 he was placed in charge of the nation’s geological survey of the park. GBG and Hague spent two weeks hiking in some of the park’s most remote sections. (Harris, p. 316). Grinnell’s four primary arguments for protecting YNP (Harris, p. 326). Grinnell’s renewed interest in the park initially stemmed from his opposition to proposed land development near the park in the early 1880s. (Harris, p. 331).
1885 In the spring of 1885, Grinnell resolved to visit Shultz (“Apikuni”) in Montana. From about 1885 on GBG’s annual visits to the West involved less and less big game hunting, switching off to Indians and early western history. GBG was given the Indian name “Fisher Hat.” (Harris, p. 394-396 & f.n. 669).
1885 Grinnell and T. Roosevelt meet for the first time in July, the result of a book review GBG wrote on TR’s Hunting Trips of a Ranchman. (Harris, p. 296).
Marriage
Audubon Park
1887 Boone & Crockett Club
Single-shot Mountain
1894 Lacy Act (1894 National Park Protection Act)
1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition (HAE)
1910 Establishment of Glacier National Park
Young Jack books
1885 Beginning at this time GBG began to campaign aggressively for nearly ten years for greater governmental control of YellowstoneNational Park. (Harris, pp. 187-188). GBG campaigned against YNP Superintendent R. E. Carpenter. Carpenter was replaced by Col. D. W. Wear-resigned in 1886. (Harris, pp. 343).
1885 Grinnell discovered the glacier in Montana that now bears his name and was influential in legislation that led to the establishment (1910) of In 1885 he discovered the glacier in Montana that now bears his name and was influential in legislation that led to the establishment (1910) of GlacierNational Park..
1886 GBG created the Audubon Society which he saw as an outgrowth of the AOU’s Committee on the Protection of North American Birds, designed to advance the causes of the committee and “doing detail duties to which they cannot attend.” Harris (p.270) states that Grinnell helped organize this committee with William Brewster, J. A. Allen, and George Sennett. The committee’s formation marked the first direct action taken by ornithologists for the protection of endangered species. The committee’s first report, “The Destruction of our Native Birds,” was published in a bulletin. At the core of the report was the “Model Law.” The conflict over the Model Law framed the debate over wildlife conservation for an entire generation. GBG recognized the limits of the AOU to act as an instrument of reform, and formed the Audubon Society, the sole purpose of which wa to protect wild birds and their eggs. Membership was free and open to anyone who pledged to uphold any or all of the three main objectives of the society: 1) to prevent the killing of non-game birds, 2) to protect from destruction nests and eggs belonging to wild birds, and 3) to end the wearing of feathers as decoration for women’s hats. (Harris, pp. 270-274). Forest and Stream was ahead of most sportsmen’s journals in that it vigorously called for public reappraisal of attitudes toward wildlife. (Harris, p. 274). Those who opposed bird protection (19th C) did so for three reasons: 1) bird shooting was a good sport, 2) many people enjoyed private collections of birds, 3) there was a tremendous profit to be made in the sale of game birds for a wide range of purposes (Harris, p. 263). Grinnell’s Audubon Society had its own periodical, Audubon Magazine. (Harris, p. 275). GBG knew in less than three months after the society was founded that the organization was a national movement. In July, when the Society was only five months old that “it is already an established certainty that the movement . . . is a successful one.” The movement began with professional ornithologists who in turn opened the doors to bird and nature lovers. (Harris, p. 276, 281-282, 288). Grinnell’s campaign to enlist women into the movement may have been his most effective public relations strategy. Several prestigious women’s colleges in the Northeast formed chapters. Florence A. Merriam, who was the first woman elected (1885?) to be a member of the aou, and, in 1929, the first woman to be elected a fellow of the aou. A “special” student at Smith College, Northampton, MA (1882-1886), where she formed a George Bird Grinnell Audubon Society chapter — and organized bird walks given by John Burroughs, whom she recruited. She was awarded the Brewster Medal (1931) of the aou for her book, Birds of New Mexico (1928). She has been called the “First Lady of Ornithology” by Marcia Myers Bonta (1991). (Roster.doc). ; Grinnell decided to end the society when it became too costly in terms of money, time, and manpower to run it. (Harris, P. 282). It was the movement that was created by the original Audubon Society that was responsible for reviving the Society in the late-1890s, first at the state level, then at the national level. (Harris, p. 283).
From: Pearson, T. Gilbert, 1937, Adventures in Bird Protection, p. 127. The term “Audubon Society” had been coined by Dr. George Bird Grinnell, who, in the February issue of his magazine Forest and Stream, gave this name to a society started “for the protection of American birds not used for food.” . . . In Grinnell’s first announcement, he advertised that men or boys might become members of the new society by signing a pledge either to “refrain from killing, wounding, or capturing any wild bird used for food” or “not to rob, destroy, or injure the nests or eggs of any wild bird.” Women and girls could join by agreeing “not to make use of the feathers of any wild bird, as ornaments of dress or household furniture.” No membership fees were required ; therefore, after securing about fifty thousand signatures, chiefly those of school-children, it became necessary to abandon the enterprise in January, 1889. (end citation of Pearson) On 1/07/11, I wrote an essay for Mob in which I said Grinnell formed the Audubon Society to protect game birds. Apparently my essay was wrong on this point.
1886 Audubon Society of New York (served as director for 26 years) (????) / Forest and Stream.
1886 YNP Superintendent Col. W. E. Wear and his assistants resigned from the park. Control then went to the War Department which assigned Company M, First Cavalry to the detail under command of Capt. Moses Harris who arrived in August. Capt. Harris then became Park Superintendent and began an era of greater stability and advances in game protection. Harris was an excellent administrator (p.351) (Harris, p. 344).
1887 Boone & Crockett Club was founded. In addition to bird protection, GBG was interested in the protection of big game through a protective association, of which he had several models in mind. (Harris, pp. 289-295). B&C existed “to promote manly sport with the rifle,” and “to promote travel and exploration in the wild and unknown, or but partially known, portions of the country.” Three remaining objectives . . . . add from p. 294, 300, 301 (Harris, 293) accomplishments of B&C (Harris, pp. 312- ). B&C has changed over time pp. 300-301.
1887 Grinnell lost a girl he loved. No further details. (Harris, p. 240).
1887 The General Allotment Act (Dawes Act) is passed. This policy proved to have had disastrous consequences for Indians. GBG’s most intimate and significant contact with Plains Indians came during the half-century while the Dawes Act was in effect. (Harris, p. 387).
Late 1880s By the late-1880s, GBG’s annual expeditions to the West were scheduled almost entirely around visits to Indian reservations. (Harris, p. 408).
Late 1880s Summer camps for boys and girls; to encourage an intelligent interest in various aspects of natural history. (Harris, p. 248). Grinnell and Boy Scouts, 1910 (p. 249, f.n. 417). Connection to William T. Hornaday? Constellation of virtures in outdoor life. Good sportsmen make good soldiers.
1888 Theodore Roosevelt publishes Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail;
1889 Published Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales; With Notes on the Origins, Customs and Character of the Pawnee People;
1890s After his annual trip to the West in 1890 GBG began to loose interest in killing game. He continued to hunt birds but he never killed another big game animal after 1890. (Harris, p. 303). By the end of 1910 GBG had given away all his hunting rifles. (Harris, p. 304). By the early 1890s GBG had given up big game hunting and he seemed relieved not to be making long expeditions to the West for that purpose (Harris, p. 237, 303). He also appears to have been slowing down in life.
1890 see Harris p. 305
1891 George Blake Grinnell dies at 68 (Parsons, p. xix)
1891 “Since 1891, Grinnell had dreamed of having land set aside as a national preserve in the way that Yellowstone had been.” (Harris, p. 14)
1892 Published Blackfoot Lodge Tales: The Story of a Prairie People;
1893 American Big Game Hunting is published, ed. by Grinnell and T. Roosevelt. (Harris, p. 296, 299-300)
1893 Game poaching in Yellowstone NP
1894 The National Park Protective Act (The Lacey Act of 1894). Many of Ludlow’s specific recommendation were enacted into Senator George Vest’s 1894 law to protect wildlife in Yellowstone NP. GBG was actively involved in helping to get the bill passed. The Lacy bill contained four key provisions: (See: Ludlow Exp.1875)(Harris, p. 325, 371, 374, 376). Poacher Edgar Howell and Forest and Stream. Significance of. (Chittenden, pp. 121-125).
1894 Grinnell’s mother Helen dies at 66 (Parsons, p. xix).
1895 About: From the middle of the 1890s GBG packed a camera for all his Western trips and spent considerable money and energy keeping up with the latest technology. (Harris, p. 304).
1895 Published The Story of the Indian; Appointed Commissioner to deal with the Blackfoot and Belknap Indians.
1896 GBG concludes the purchase from the Blackfoot of Glacier National Park area for $1.5 million, to be paid out over a ten-year period. (Parsons, p. xix)
1896 About this time he began using a camera (Harris p.304);
1897
1898 Spanish-American War;
1899 Published Jack the Young Ranchman;
1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition (HAE) (Edward Harriman);
1900 Lacy Act to protect birds (need more information); Congress passes the Lacey Act, which bans the shipment from one state to another of birds killed in violation of state laws. This is the first effective weapon against plume hunters. In December, Bird-Lore proposes a Christmas Bird Count to replace the shooting competitions traditionally held on that holiday.(http://www.audubonmagazine.org/century/dawn-1899.html) ; The Lacy Act was signed into law by President McKinley in May, 1900. The bill outlawed interstate traffic in birds that were in violation of state laws. This meant that shippers and millinery agents could continue their operations only in states that did not outlaw killing. The Lacy Act gave the US Department of Agriculture the authority to enforce the law by prohibiting interstate traffic in birds taken illegally. The act implied that wildlife was not a commodity to be used for commercial exploitation. The mid-1880s had been a true turning point in the history of American game protection. (Harris, p. 287).
1900 Published The Indians of Today; Published Jack among the Indians;
1901 Published The Punishment of Stingy and Other Indian Stories;
1901 Sep 6, William McKinley is shot at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York, he died Sep 14. Theodore Roosevelt becomes President of the United States.
1902 Standing Rock Reservation (need more information).
1902 August 1, married Elizabeth Kirby Curtis (became Elizabeth Curtis Grinnell) (Parsons, p. ).
1902 B&C members Madison Grant and John F. Lacy introduced and pushed through a 1902 law to restrict the killing and export of endangered large game in Alaska including the Kodiak bear, caribou and recently discovered strains of wild sheep.
1903
1904 Published Jack in the Rockies; American Big Game in Its Haunts is published, ed. by Grinnell.
1905 Edward Russell Wilber, part owner of Forest and Stream Publishing Co., dies on July 30. (Fisher, Auk, p. 9)
1905 National Association of Audubon Societies is formed. T. Gilbert Pearson, William Dutcher. Although GBG was not involved in the founding of the national organization he was an enthusiastic supporter of it.
1906 Published Jack the Young Canoeman;
1907 Published Jack the Young Trapper;
1908 Published Jack the Young Explorer;
1909 GBG sold the AudubonPark family estate. (Harris, p. 42); Moves from AudubonPark home to East 15th Street.
1910 By the end of 1910 GBG had given away all his hunting rifles. (Harris, p. 304) (See: 1890).
1910 GlacierNational Park is established with a bill signed into law by President Taft;
1910 Published American Game Bird Shooting; Gave away all his hunting rifles (EDH p.304);
1910 GBG promoted the new Boy Scout movement (See: 1889) (Harris, p. 249, f.n. 417) Connection to William T. Hornaday?
1911 American Game Protective and Propagation Association is founded in September (Fisher, Auk, p. 9)
1911 about this time he gave up editorship of Forest and Stream?? (31 or 35 years??)
1912 Oct 14, Theodore Roosevelt is shot in Milwaukee, WI.
1913 Published Jack the Young Cowboy;
1913 Shiras bill to prohibit the sale of game. George Shiras, 3rd was a B&C member. Became law in March 1913. (need more information) (Harris, p. 314)
1914 Published Blackfoot Indian Stories;
1914 George Shiras, 3d. Necessity for and constitutionality of the act of Congress protecting migratory birds . [New York: American Game Protective and Propagation Association, 1914].
1915 Published The Fighting Cheyenne;
1916
1917
1918-1927 President of Boone & Crockett;
1919
1920 Published When Buffalo Ran;
1921 Honorary Litt.D. degree from YaleUniversity
1922
1923 Published The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Ways of Life (2 vols);
1924
1925 GBG received the Roosevelt Memorial gold medal, presented by President Coolidge. (Fisher, 1939, In Memorium).
1926 Published By Cheyenne Campfires; Visited Grinnell Glacier for the last time.
1927
1928 Published Two Great Scouts and Their Pawnee Battalion.
1929 GBG suffered his first heart attack (Parsons, p. 150).
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935 Theodore Roosevelt Gold Medal
1935 Luther North died?
1936
1937
1938 Died April 11 at 88 years of age after a long illness.; “His death on April 12, 1938, came after a long illness complicated by heart disease, and confining him to a wheel chair.” (Parsons, p. 151);
1938 Death: “When he died, in 1938, the New York Times called him ‘the father of American conservation.’” (Weidensaul, 2007, pp. 104, and 149-155).
