Page 45 - Early Naturalists of the Black Range

James William Abert
Abert was with Stephen W. Kearney on his march from Santa Fe to San Diego in 1846. He left the expedition at Fort Bent to recover from illness. He then went on to New Mexico to conduct survey work. He collected several mammal and bird species along the Middle Rio Grande as far south as Valverde. A map drawn by Abert and Peck, in 1846-47, is shown on the following page. The northern part of the Black Range is (apparently) shown in the lower left hand corner - just above “Apache”.
The Abert’s Towhee was first collected by Abert (and was named in his honor) in New Mexico. The specimen must have been at the very edge of its range and at the southwestern extent of Abert’s explorations.
The image to the right is taken from Abert’s “Report of The Secretary of War, Communicating the Answer to a Resolution of the Senate - A Report and Map of The Examination of New Mexico Made by Lieutenant J. W. Abert”, 1848. This report, of Abert’s activities in New Mexico in 1846, is one of the best
descriptive works of the time, descriptive of both the culture and the natural history of New Mexico.
Abert did not enter the Black Range. He did journey south of Socorro but his personal reconnaissance never took him further.
Cooke’s Spring in 1882, a year after the spring house was built.
44