Thomas Nuttall, Naturalist. Explorations in America 1808–1841 by Jeanette E. Graustein (review)

Reviews 73 adjunct to Henry Nash Smith’s “Kit Carson in Books’’ (Southwest Review, XXVIII, 164-89) and his later treatment in Chapter VIII of Virgin Land. It is a remarkable trait of Kit Carson that while lauded as a national hero during his own lifetime, he remained unaffected by such acclaim. Indeed, as Carter concludes after a thorough examination of every aspect of Carson’s life, his "outstanding trait and his greatest asset” were “his simplicity and modesty” (p. 207). He also concludes that Kit was typical of the mountain men in his mastery of his environment and in his experiences but that in his ability to adapt himself to the rapidly changing aspects of the expanding West he was not typical. He was also overrated as a super hero by most of those who wrote about him; yet with regard to his character and what he actually accomplished, he deserved much of what was said of him. In fact, Carter remarks, few in his time “could have worn his laurels so lightly, so gracefully, and so well” (p. 210). The accomplishment that this book represents is indeed praiseworthy. Not only has Harvey Carter accomplished his task of correcting the plethora of errors that have accumulated around Carson, annotating the memoirs richly, and commenting judiciously upon numerous aspects of his subject, but he has also provided a useful chronology of Carson’s life, hts reprinted an early account of Carson from the Washington Union of 1847, and has brought together a large number of illustrations and written an eight-page commentary about them. Although the book lacks a bibliography, the notes contain full documentation. There is a detailed index. Errors of the kind that every scholar and editor tries to avoid are here, but they are relatively few and not serious. This volume is recommended to all readers who enjoy Western history and biography and should prove exceptionally useful to anyone interested in studying the growth and perpetuation of one of the great reputations of the early West. Harvey Carter, who is Professor of History at Colorado College, has created one of the most authoritative books on Kit Carson yet published, and his edition of the memoirs will likely not be improved upon by any sub­ sequent scholar. Edgeley Woodman Todd, Colorado State University Thomas Nuttall, Naturalist. Explorations in America 1808-1841. By Jeanette E. Graustein. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1967. xiv & 481 pages, $11.95.) Little information has heretofore been published concerning the life of the famous English naturalist, Thomas Nuttall. As Miss Graustein demonstrates, that little has contained many distortions and inaccuracies. Yet most of Nuttall’s active life as a field naturalist was in America, and his achievements are of major importance in the natural history of North America. On this ground 74 Western American Literature alone, the publication of a full length, carefully researched biography of the great naturalist is valuable. This book indeed carefully, even exhaustively, presents as complete a picture of Nuttall’s career as might be hoped for, given the fragmentary nature of much of the information about him. Miss Graustein appears to have followed out every possible clue and to have winnowed moun­ tains of information in the preparation of this work, with a diligence and zeal of which Nuttall himself would have approved. Barring the unexpected dis­ covery of Nuttall’s long lost notebooks or of other substantial documentary evidence, this should remain the definitive biography. The picture this biography presents is that of a man devoted to his work to the point of eccentricity, yet of a man far more human and personable than some earlier accounts would indicate. He was personally not very pre­ possessing, being neither an especially effective lecturer nor especially graceful socially, but he had a single minded devotion to his science, dogged determination in the face of hardship and scant resources, and extraordinary skill as an observer and collector. An account of Nuttall’s personal acquaintances reads like a Who’s Who in American field biology: Audubon, Barton, the Bartrams, Gambel, Gray, Kalm, Michaux, Pursh, Rafinesque, Say, Torrey, Wyeth, as well as such famous western names as Lisa and Sublette, all appear in some...