THE FORESTS OF OREGON 



of the lower Columbia River watched him 

 with lively curiosity as he wandered about in 

 the woods day after day, gazing intently on 

 the ground or at the great trees, collecting 

 specimens of everything he saw, but, unlike 

 all the eager fur-gathering strangers they had 

 hitherto seen, caring nothing about trade. And 

 when at length they came to know him better, 

 and saw that from year to year the growing 

 things of the woods and prairies, meadows 

 and plains, were his only object of pursuit, 

 they called him the &quot;Man of Grass/ a title 

 of which he was proud. 



He was a Scotchman and first came to this 

 coast in the spring of 1825 under the auspices 

 of the London Horticultural Society, landing 

 at the mouth of the Columbia after a long, 

 dismal voyage of eight months and fourteen 

 days. During this first season he chose Fort 

 Vancouver, belonging to the Hudson s Bay 

 Company, as his headquarters, and from there 

 made excursions into the glorious wilderness 

 in every direction, discovering many new 

 species among the trees as well as among 

 the rich underbrush and smaller herbaceous 

 vegetation. It was while making a trip to 

 Mount Hood this year that he discovered the 

 two largest and most beautiful firs in the 

 world (Picea amabilis and P. nobilis now 



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