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Volume XVIII January-February, 1916 Number 1 
PHILADELPHIA TO THE COAST IN EARLY DAYS, AND THE 
DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN ORNITHOLOGY PRIOR TO 1850* 
By WITMER STONE 
I T IS MY PRIVILEGE at this meeting to represent the Academy of Natural 
Sciences of Philadelphia. On the long journey from coast to coast that the 
eastern members have just completed, the names both of localities that we 
passed and of birds that we saw, have constantly called to mind the fact that 
other and more worthy Philadelphia ornithologists had made this trip before. 
They came not to participate in scientific meetings nor to enjoy the generous 
hospitality of friends and fellow students, but as pioneers in investigating the 
natural resources of one of the richest sections of our continent, to search out 
in the wilderness the new species of birds, mammals, plants, etc., to bring home 
specimens upon which scientific descriptions and names might be established. 
They came, not surrounded by all the comforts of modern travel, but on 
foot or on horseback, picking their way through unexplored wilds, exposed to 
indian attack and at the mercy of the elements, dependent largely upon the 
country through which they passed for sustenance. Some of them gave up 
their lives in the pursuit of our favorite science, and to one and all we owe a 
debt of gratitude for the part they played in developing our knowledge of the 
ornithology of the Pacific Coast. Though we are inclined to think of these 
early explorers as men of mature years, they were mostly young fellows from 
19 to 21 or 30 years of age, ready for any hardships or danger in the pursuit of 
their object. 
Does it not seem that this is the proper time and place for us to pause in 
the activities of today to review the achievements of these early pioneers and 
in so doing pay a well merited tribute to their memory? I think you will 
agree with me that it is, and will bear with me while I briefly review their 
labors in the west. 
‘Read at the Thirty-third Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists’ Union. San 
Francisco, May 18, 1915. 
