BIOGRAPHICAL 37 



forests, wild game, petrified forests, there comes a feel- 

 ing of gratitude and pride that this plain American citizen 

 had the foresight to so shape legislation that these things 

 might be preserved to the citizens of the present and fu- 

 ture generations. 



Major John Fletcher Lacey was born in New Martins- 

 ville, West Virginia, May 30, 1841 ; he attended a select 

 school in Oskaloosa ; studied law in the office of General 

 Samuel A. Rice, under whom he afterwards served in the 

 Union army ; twice enlisted as a private in the Third and 

 Thirty-third Iowa, and finally was major in the service. 

 On his return to Oskaloosa he was admitted to the bar, 

 where he won distinction not only as a lawyer, but also an 

 author of considerable note. He died on the afternoon of 

 September 29, 1913. 

 Harvey Ingham, in the Register and Leader, has said : 

 He was always a hard-working lawyer. Those who met him 

 before the jury and judges before whom he practiced regarded 

 him highly. He commanded the respect and confidence of his 

 neighbors and friends, and built up a substantial competence at 

 the same time that he was winning public recognition. He was 

 frequently upon the platform, and his occasional addresses, all 

 of them suggesting study and care in preparation, would fill a 

 large volume. 



It is my purpose to dwell on the phase of his work 

 which had to do with the conservation of the natural re- 

 sources of the country. Mr. Freeman Conaway has well 

 said : 



Major Lacey will be known in history as the statesman who 

 was a friend of the birds. As chairman of the Committee on 

 Public Lands, he worked through many reforms ... so 

 when he was placed at the head of a committee which was never 

 known to have done any work, it became under his direction 

 a working body. 



Major Lacey was held in such high esteem by the sports- 

 men of the country that the League of American Sports- 



