Page 92 - Early Naturalists of the Black Range

T. Charlton Henry
Henry recorded 170 bird species while stationed at Forts Thorn, Fillmore, and Webster, during 1853-54. He tallied his observations in “Notes derived from observations made on the Birds of New Mexico during the years 1853 and 1854”, published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. VII, April 1855, pp. 306-317. He begins his discussion with a description of the vegetation and geology which surrounds the forts. In Volume XI of the same journal Henry updated his listing, “Catalogue of the Birds of New Mexico as compiled from Notes and Observations made while in that Territory, during a residence of six years”, a listing of 198 species.
Henry collected the type specimen for the Crissal Thrasher, Toxostoma crissalis, at Fort Thorn in 1858 and published his description in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol 10, p. 117, “Descriptions of New Birds From Fort Thorn, New Mexico”. In some histories of the event Henry misidentified the bird as a California Thrasher and sent it to John Cassin for confirmation. Cassin sent it to Baird, who described it as Harporhynchus crissalis, in his “A History of North American Birds”, Volume 1, p. 351. Baird recognized Henry as the original collector/describer. At various times this species has been known as Red-vented Thrasher and Henry’s Thrush.
At about the same time, Henry returned east with a specimen of a tortoise described by Le Conte in 1860 as Kinosternum henrici, later found to be the same as K. sonoriense (1854), also described by Le Conte.
Randolph B. Marcy
Marcy was not a naturalist but he did publish The Prairie Traveler. A Hand-Book For Overland Expeditions. With Maps, Illustrations, and Itineraries of the Principal Routes Between the Mississippi and the Pacific in 1859. In it, he gave extensive advice on travel routes, equipment, and just about anything else an aspiring emigrant would need. He describes the route from Fort Thorne, New Mexico to Fort Yuma, California - see above.
Elliott Coues
During his travels in New Mexico and Arizona (1864-66 & 1881) Coues collected more than 200 species of birds. He was a protégé of Baird and named the first bird species he described, the Baird’s Sandpiper, after him. The short amount of time he spent in New Mexico was in the north.
The photograph of a young Coues is a reminder of how very young most of the explorers and naturalists were during their “field days”.
XXIII.—From Fort Thorne, New Mexico, to Fort Yuma, California.
[Distances in miles and hundredths of a mile.]
From Ft. Throne 14.30
9.19
12.00
19.50 16.30
To
Water Holes. — One mile west of hole
in rock. Water uncertain; no wood.
Mule Creek. —- Water at all seasons a little up the creek; wood plenty.
Cook's Spring. — Water sufficient for camping; mesquite bushes on the hills.
Rio Mimbres. — Water and wood abundant.
Ojo de la Vaca. — Water and wood.
Elliot Coues
Henry Wetherbee Henshaw
Henshaw was an ornithologist and ethnologist. In 1873 he traveled past the headwaters of the Gila River, observing large numbers of Wild Turkey in the area. Later he was to serve as head of the Biological Survey of the USDA.
In later life, as head of the Biological Survey, he published Fifty Common Birds of Farm and Orchard, which eventually morphed into the National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America.
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