THE NIDIOLOGIST 



Some Fort Wingate Reminis= 

 cences==New Mexico. 



FORT WINGATE is an old military post, 

 situated quite out of civilization, in 

 northwestern New Mexico. Back in the 

 latter part of the '8o's the writer spent nearly 

 five years there, he being a commissioned sur- 

 geon in the army in those days, and two thirds 

 of that time was on duty in charge of the 

 medical department of the post. To the 

 zoologist the country about offered a great deal 

 that was of extreme interest, while to the 

 angler and sportsman it presented hardly any 

 attractions at all. This was the source of a 

 sincere disappointment to me, as I have always 

 been passionately fond of both. But, as I felt 

 that I had been sent to Wingate in exile, and 

 that for a long time, there was but one thing to 

 do about it, and that was to "grin and bear 

 it." Wingate was an extremely healthy place, 

 and unless the people were drugged to death no 

 sickness of any importance ever occurred there. 

 As I was not given to giving medicines, and as 

 I was given to performing my official duties 

 with marked dispatch and thoroughness, I soon 

 found that there were a number of hours in 

 each twenty-four that legitimately could be 

 claimed as my own. 



These are the hours tha, average officer 



usually idles away in the " Club Room," and it is 

 thought to be all right, but to me they were of the 

 greatest value. I had many important researches 

 in biology under way, and was only too glad 

 of such an excellent op])ortunity to pursue ^hem. 

 Professor Baird, of the Smithsonian Insti' .ion, 

 had intrusted me with a large collection of 

 skeletons of arctic birds. These had all to be 

 worked uj) and illustrated. I had also de- 

 termined to write a book on the muscles of 

 birds; to investigate the structure of certain 

 fishes; also the morphology of that curious bird, 

 the "California Road Runner" {Gcococcyx), 

 together with the entire group of Humming- 

 birds, Trogons, Fasseres, etc. Among reptiles 

 I had my eye on Heloderjna, and then I was 

 determined to fully collect and describe all the 

 country afforded, from insects to Indians. 

 Finally, there was a list of some thirty other 

 papers 1 had blocked out to finish, which touched 

 upon a variety of subjects, jjrincipally anatomi- 

 cal, medical, pyschical, and so on. \\'hen I 

 left Wingate, my surprise was great Hiat not 

 only everything enumerated above had been 

 accomplished, but not a little more besides. 



As my work advanced my intuitions seemed 

 to tell me that the old army spirit of jealousy 

 was aroused — the old hostility to science, be- 

 cause of my work, was pervading the entire 

 organization. It took the form of extreme con- 



sideration for me on their side, and on mine to 

 the bending of every energy to perform my 

 official duties in the most faultless manner 

 possible. It became an exceedingly interesting 

 state of affairs, with lots of the old sixteenth 

 century spirit evidenced upon both sides. For 

 my own part, my feelings, I take it, were much 

 like those of one of the early anatomists in the 

 days of the Inquisition, when, as he secretly 

 dissected in his hiding place, he knew the dogs 

 of the Church were plotting to capture him 

 and throw his body upon the rack. At last the 

 war was opened. I was taken before a " big 

 military court " for trial. We all know what 

 the character of the " charges " are under such 

 circumstances, and if the reader does not he 

 has but to turn to the fate of Andreas Vesalius 

 to know, or the fate of many another one like 

 him in the history of those times. From morn- 

 ing until evening my trial lasted for many weeks, 

 and for nearly a year thereafter, without hav- 

 ing been informed what the result of it was, I 

 was- held in arrest at Wingate. At night I ac- 

 complished no little amount of scientific work 

 during my trial, but during my imprisonment 

 for the long months afterward I accomplished 

 a vast deal more. AV'e do not propose, how- 

 ever, to write a history of that trial here. We 

 will turn to other experiences that we had at 

 Wingate, and how some of the time was passed. 



With my family I resided in a comfortable 

 old set of adobe army quarters, wherein one not 

 very large room was set aside for my special 

 "den." It was in this room that I did all my 

 writing, all my dissecting, and laboratory work, 

 ]jrepared all my specimens and drawings, and, 

 indeed, everything that pertained to my labors. 



One of the recesses in the first one of the two 

 rooms I occupied while at Wingate is shown in 

 an accompanying illustration. My second 

 "den" in another set of quarters I occupied 

 the last year or more; while there I was more 

 comfortable. It had a side room, with large 

 closet, that made an excellent photographic 

 room and ])lace to keej) living specimens, such 

 as Gila Monsters, Salamanders, " Horned 

 Toads," and plants that I had under my obser- 

 vation. The larger apartment had big tables 

 in it, at which I worked, and also contained 

 my library, alcoholics, collecting outfit, mate- 

 rial, and other jiaraphernalia that go toward 

 the furnishings of a naturalist's workshop. It 

 also had a small iron cot, and when I wrote 

 very late at night my wife and children would 

 retire on the second floor, and for the few re- 

 maining hours until morning the doctor slept 

 in his den. Very, very few people ever came 

 to the house, and my good wife attended to all 

 my social duties for me; and no officer ever 

 gained admittance to my study until I was 



