-4- 
the mountains were visited by W. D. Whitney (11) acting as 
botanist on a government expedition in charge of J. W. Foster. 
The following year, several places on the south shore of Lake 
Superior were visited - as far west - Whitney says, as the 
Ontonagon Valley and Carp River, both being in the vicinity 
of the Porcupines. In the second report on the region (IP), 
which was published in 1851, Whitney gives a list of plants 
seen in the Upper Peninsula, including some from Isle Royale. 
This list, being very general, gives no clue as to what 
species were observed in the Porcupine Mountains. In 
JACKSON'S LAKE SUPERIORS), published in 1849, Bela Hubbard, 
a geologist, in discussing the origin and character of the 
soil in the Porcupines, points out that the sugar maple pre¬ 
dominates throughout the elevated portions, 'while hemlock is 
the prevailing tree upon the lower lands. 
During the next fifty years, apparently little was 
done in the way of botanical investigation in this region. 
In the summer of 1903, F. E. Wright (£8), Assistant State 
Geologist, continued the work, earlier begun under the 
direction of Dr. L. L. Hubbard, of preparing data for an 
accurate geological report and map of the mountains. During 
a part of this time he was accompanied by Dr. A. G. Ruthven 
of the University of Michigan, who became interested in the 
biological aspects of the country. In 1904 and 1905, the 
