TRbooora 
JOURNAL OF 
THE NEW ENGLAND BOTANICAL CLUB 
Vol. 25. July, 1923. No. 295. 
WILLIAM CONKLIN CUSICK 
Haroup Sr. JOHN. 
(With portrait.) 
EASTERN OREGON is a region of high rugged mountains, sandy 
deserts, and deep hot river canyons. The settlers are few and scat- 
tered, yet the flora of this vast region is already well known. The 
tireless zeal of one man, both farmer and botanist, has accomplished 
this feat of exploration. He was William Conklin Cusick, and it is 
with sincere regret that his death is recorded.! 
Mr. Cusick was born in Adams County, Illinois, on Februray 21st, 
1842. He was named for his great grandfather on his father’s side. 
His grandfather, Henry Cusick, a weaver by trade, left the north 
of Ireland for New York City, probably after the Revolutionary 
War. 
Mr. Cusick’s early boyhood was spent in Illinois, where he attended 
a country school, from the age of four to that of eleven. Then his 
parents, in 1853, joined the great westward surging tide of settlers. 
With an ox-team they crossed the “Oregon Trail." William was the 
eldest child, so, during a large part o/ this journey, he walked and 
drove the oxen. “We got to the south pass of the Rocky Mountains, 
which was then the eastern line of Oregon on the 4th of July. I 
remember seeing Calochortus Nuttallii growing among the sage brush 
in the valley of the Snake River." Ascending the Powder River they 
went near North Powder, where later Mr. Cusick took up a ranch. 
Crossing the dividing ridge they descended the valley of the Grande 
1 The writer wishes to acknowledge valuable assistance in the preparation of this 
biography from Mrs. S. F. Cusick, Mr. W. W. Eggleston, Mr. J. C. Nelson, and Dr. 
B. L. Robinson. 
