What would you be looking for if you worked in the field for the United States Bureau of Biological Survey? Help us uncover what Vernon Bailey, a chief field naturalist for the Survey, was focused on during the early months of 1894 while traveling from Pennsylvania to what is sometimes called "Big Sky Country" today, to Montana.
What would you be looking for if you worked in the field for the United States Bureau of Biological Survey? Help us uncover what Vernon Bailey, a chief field naturalist for the Survey, was focused on during the early months of 1894 while traveling from Pennsylvania to what is sometimes called "Big Sky Country" today, to Montana.
More notes and journals from Vernon Bailey’s expeditions and fieldwork can be found here. See what others have transcribed or explore his personal papers in the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Vernon Orlando Bailey (1864-1942) was born in Manchester, Michigan. At an early age his family moved to Elk River, Minnesota, where he developed an interest in natural history. Around 1885, Bailey began sending collections of birds and mammals to Clinton Hart Merriam, Chief of the newly created Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the United States Department of Agriculture (in 1896 the name was changed to the Bureau of Biological Survey). In 1887, Bailey was appointed Special Field Agent for the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy. His title was changed to Chief Field Naturalist in 1890, and he remained with the Biological Survey until his retirement in 1933. Bailey's chief biological interest was the study of the life history and distribution of mammals. During his career with the Biological Survey, he made field investigations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, including intensive biological surveys of Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Oregon. His bibliography numbered 244 titles and included scientific monographs, as well as publications for the general reader.