BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF BOTANY 242 
ing a skiff and set out for New Orleans in it. They soon were caught 
by a steamer going their way and they boarded her and abandoned their 
skiff. Upon arriving in New Orleans the talk about Texas decided him 
to go farther west, and he arrived in Galveston in January, 1839. He 
stayed in Texas about a year and then returned to Illinois where he 
taught school for some time. 
In the fall of 1841 he found an uninhabited island in the Missouri 
about three hundred miles above St. Louis, and he took up his solitary 
residence there. When the spring rise came it caused him to leave. 
In 1844 he sailed for home, and while on this trip first learned that 
sets of dried plants might be sold. On his return to America and to 
St. Louis he began to collect and was aided by Dr. Engelmann in naming 
his specimens. He visited different parts of the country between Chi- 
cago and New Orleans for the purpose of collecting. Dr. Engelmann 
commended him to Dr. Asa Gray, and he was furnished with the author- 
ity to accompany some troops which were being sent to Santa Fé, so 
that he had free transportation for himself and luggage. He returned 
to St Louis in the fall of 1847. In the spring of 1849 he started on 
another collecting trip to the West. He was unsuccessful, having lost 
most of his stock of drying papers in a flood, and he was forced to re- 
turn to St. Louis. Upon his arrival here he found that all of his large 
collections and notes and journals had been destroyed in the great fire 
which burned much of the business section of the city during his ab- 
sence. In 1849 he embarked for Panama, and after four months again 
returned to Arkansas, and finally went to Memphis, where he went into 
business. In 1854 he went to Venezuela and collected for four years, 
during this time exploring alone mountain ranges which were scarcely 
known at that time. He made very large collections, which are of great 
value. He returned to Missouri in 1864 and bought a tract of land in 
the town of Allenton, about thirty miles west of St. Louis. This he be- 
gan to clear and cultivate in company with his half-brother, who was 
half-witted, and who always was dependent upon him. Here he re- 
mained for seven years, with the exception of a month spent in the Gray 
Herbarium, assisting in its arrangement. During this time Mr. Letter- 
man became acquainted with him, and from 1870 to 1871 they met two 
or three times a week and nearly every Sunday with green plants to be 
identified. He seems to have collected but little in the vicinity, but was 
very familiar with the plants of the general neighborhood. After clear- 
ing his land and putting up his house, mostly with his own hands, he 
spent most of his time writing a book. This is undoubtedly his “ Mech- 
anism of the Universe,” which was unfortunately published at his own 
expense later. Failing health forced him to dispose of his farm and re- 
move to another climate. In 1871 he sold the farm and left for Europe, 
intending to live there the rest of his days. He, however, returned and 
