Page 19 - Early Naturalists of the Black Range

Edwin James
1820: James accompanied the Stephen Harriman Long Expedition to Colorado in 1820, serving as botanist and geologist. His travels on this expedition were limited to the northeastern portion of what is now New Mexico. Included here because the Long Expedition was the first scientific survey of the region, and many of the species which can be found in our area were first recorded by members of the expedition.
Thomas Say
1820: Say served as zoologist on the Long Expedition. The expedition’s account records the first descriptions of Coyote, Western Kingbird, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rock Wren, Lesser Goldfinch, Lazuli Bunting, Collared Lizard, and many other species. Among those other species was Say’s Phoebe, named in his honor by Charles Lucien Bonaparte.
José María Narváez
1823: Had José María Narváez ’ map entitled “Carta esferica de los territorios de la alta y baja Californias y estado de Sonora” of 1823 been available at the time the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was negotiated in 1848 and the boundary survey directed, many of the problems inherent in the survey effort would never have occurred. But it was not available. The map (shown at the right) was remarkably accurate for the time. A detail is shown below.
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