Geologist writes first Wyoming Bird book—in 1902
The first book on Wyoming birds was written by a geologist, Wilbur Clinton Knight.
Knight was born in Illinois, grew up on a farm in Nebraska, and earned a doctorate in geology at the University of Nebraska in 1901. When he wrote the book on birds in 1902, he was already nationally known as a professor of geology at the University of Wyoming.
Knight first came to Wyoming in the summer of 1885 to assist Wyoming territorial geologist, Samuel Aughey, with the collection of fossils in the Como Bluff area. He returned to Wyoming in 1886 as assistant territorial geologist. He soon resigned that position and took a job as a mining engineer in the Keystone area of the Snowy Range, where he worked until 1892. In 1893 he was appointed professor of mining at UW.
Knight was appointed curator of the university museum in 1894. He received many questions about the birds of the state which he could not answer. He felt responsible for providing this information, so he decided to write a book on birds of the state.
Knight and one of his students, Charles W. Gilmore, began to collect birds in Albany and Carbon counties whenever they had an opportunity. He collaborated with others who had information on birds of the state, including Dr. Mortimer Jesurun from Douglas, H. A. West from Buffalo, and Frank Bond from Cheyenne. Many of the bird specimens collected 115 years ago are still in UW’s vertebrate museum in the Berry Center on campus, and provide a valuable historical record of Wyoming birds.
The Birds of Wyoming was issued in 1902 as Wyoming Experiment Station Bulletin Number 55. The 174 page book included a reprint of an article by Laurence Bruner, “Birds in Their Relation to Agriculture.” This was likely intended to create a better appreciation for the value of birds. Knight included (as a supplement) the 1901 Wyoming Session Laws for the Protection of Birds, beginning with: “Since there are so few people in Wyoming that are acquainted with our laws protecting birds....” This was at the time when President Theodore Roosevelt was championing an early conservation movement.
The main part of the book is an annotated list of 288 species or subspecies known to occur in Wyoming, plus a list of 12 hypothetical (reported but unconfirmed) species. The book was illustrated with sketches by Frank Bond of Cheyenne who was not a professional artist, but competent in his Audubon-influenced style.
Knight’s book provided a foundation for future study of Wyoming’s birds. In 1913, Benjamin Grave and Ernest Walker published a supplement to Knight’s book, adding 45 species. Not until 1937 was a second attempt made to produce a comprehensive list of Wyoming birds. Otto McCreary, a research chemist at the University Agricultural Experiment Station, published a book, Wyoming Bird Life, which listed 322 bird species occurring in Wyoming. The current list includes nearly 440 species.
Wilbur Knight unfortunately died in 1903 at age 44 of peritonitis. He was prominent enough nationally to have his obituary appear in The New York Times in addition to an announcement of his death in the Los Angeles Herald. His prominence was, of course, for geology and not ornithology, although a lengthy obituary appeared in the national ornithology journal, The Auk.
Some older readers may remember his son, Sam Knight (1892-1975), a professor of geology at the University of Wyoming and a prominent geologist in his own right.
By Jane L. Dorn
Caption: Illustration of mountain plover by Cheyenne resident Frank Bond from Wilbur Knight’s book The Birds of Wyoming. The mountain plover was discovered in Wyoming by John Kirk Townsend in 1834, described and named from his specimen, and then painted by John James Audubon. Bond was clearly influenced by Audubon in his sketches for Knight’s book, which show portions of habitat for the illustration