Scarcely Fit For Food

Street Smart Naturalist · Dec 18, 2025 · 7m

On September 2, 1834, naturalist John Kirk Townsend camped near the Umatilla River in eastern Oregon. Joining him were the fellow members of an exploring expedition lead by Nathaniel Wyeth, including the botanist Thomas Nuttall and Joseph Thing, a Boston sea captain, hired to help navigate. Traveling in the arid landscape had been trying. The previous day the men had had no water until nine o’clock at night and on the second, Townsend’s food consisted of rose buds he had found above their camp. Nuttall and Thing, however, had had a more substantial meal.

When Townsend returned from eating the…