Page 107 - Early Naturalists of the Black Range

E. O. Wooton
Wooton was the Professor of Chemistry and Botany at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He became New Mexico’s first “resident plant scientist” (the Experiment Station Chemist and Botanist) in January 1890. It was in that position that he collected plant specimens in the Black Range during the 1904-1906 period. He remained at the College until 1911.
Among Wooton’s students (and because he taught many subjects at the new college, there were many) was Paul C. Standley (see later entry) with whom he collaborated on seminal works of New Mexico botany.
He published more than 30 works in the early 1900’s, including major monographs like “Descriptions of New Plants Preliminary to a Report Upon the Flora of New Mexico” (1913) and Flora of New Mexico (1915). The latter recorded the 2,903 plant species then known in New Mexico. Both of these works were written in collaboration with Paul C. Standley.
The Society for Range Management published an article by Kelly Allred in its October 2008 issue of Rangelands. Entitled “E. O. Wooton: New Mexico’s Pioneer Botanist”, it is an excellent life history of Wooton.
E. O. Wooton in 1896 (age 31)
In 1902 he was in the Gila, observing the flooding events that shaped the landscape. In his field notes he wrote:
“The river valley grows narrower & less & less land is available for cultivation. The flood plain of the river is about 1/4 mile wide. Floods are becoming more important all the time. Every feeder of this river sends down a flood whenever there is even a moderate rain over the areas they drain. Then two or three small valleys send in their floods at the same time, the river gets a “boom” and is impassable for hours. And these floods come down small canons which were formerly all more or less arable lands, but are now barren, rocky, watercourses. There is but one explanation for most of it — overstocking the ranges. The waste is enormous, and increases each year.” (August 15, 1902)
Rumex salicifolius var. mexicanus, Mexican Dock, collected by E. O. Wooton near Chiz in the Black Range on July 15, 1904.
Based on specimen sheets, it is apparent that teacher (Wooton) and student (O. B. Metcalfe) were collecting in the same area at the same time (mid-July 1904), certainly within ten miles of each other. But ten miles can be a long way in the rugged canyons of the Black Range, and specimen sheets are sometimes inaccurate when it comes to describing where the specimens were collected. So who knows. It was in 1904, in the Black Range, that Wooton had the front bolster of his wagon snap; he had to make one from the trees near by. To get an idea of what that might entail, watch this YouTube presentation.
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