Work in the Dakota Group 17 



tree-trunks, and in the shade grows a pretty fern. 

 Many other beautiful plant forms grace the land- 

 scape, but the glorious picture is only for him who 

 gathers the remains of these forests, and by the 

 power of his imagination puts life into them; for 

 it is some five million years, according to the great 

 Dana of my childhood days, since the trees of this 

 Kansas forest lifted their mighty trunks to the 

 sun. 



At the age of seventeen, therefore, I made up my 

 mind what part I should play in life, and deter- 

 mined that whatever it might cost me in privation, 

 danger, and solitude, I would make it my business 

 to collect facts from the crust of the earth; that 

 thus men might learn more of " the introduction 

 and succession of life on our earth." 



My father was unable to see the practical side 

 of the work. He told me that if I had been a rich 

 man's son, it would doubtless be an enjoyable way 

 of passing my time, but as I should have to earn a 

 living, I ought to turn to some other business. I 

 say here, however, lest I forget it, that, although 

 struggle for a livelihood has been hard, often, 

 indeed, bitter, I have always been financially better 

 off as a collector than when I have wasted, speaking 

 from the point of view of science, some of the most 

 precious days of my life attempting to make money 

 by farming or in some other business, so that I 



