Vernon Bailey - Field notes, Minnesota and Wyoming, April - May 1890

How many observations could you capture if all you had were 40 blank pages in a notebook a little smaller than a last year's smartphone? In April 1890, Chief Field Naturalist Vernon Bailey of the United States Department of Agriculture was traveling from Minneapolis into Wyoming and eventually into Utah. This field book contains his observations during the first part of this trip which, by mid-May, had landed him in Wyoming. Given his narrative style, you'll not only find lists of plants and animal specimens observed and collected, but descriptions of other things he saw during his travels. He includes a couple of sketches, a landscape and one of a small mammal, perhaps a pocket gopher? Please join us as we transcribe his notebook of observations from the field.