John Bradbury (naturalist) facts for kids

John Bradbury (born 1768, died 1823) was an English botanist. He was famous for his trips across the central and western United States in the early 1800s. He also saw and wrote about the big New Madrid earthquake.

John Bradbury's Early Life

John Bradbury was born in August 1769. He grew up in a place called Souracre Fold, near Stalybridge in Cheshire, England. He lived there with his parents, sister, and three older brothers.

John was lucky to have a teacher named John Taylor. Mr. Taylor taught at a small school in Stalybridge. He loved plants and encouraged John's strong interest in botany, which is the study of plants. They often went on trips to find and study different plants. Mr. Taylor even said that England would soon be too small for John's talents!

After school, John worked in a cotton mill, like many young people in his area. In 1792, he became a member of the Linnean Society. This is a famous group for people who study natural history.

Travels in the United States

While living in Manchester, England, John Bradbury asked the people in charge of the Liverpool Botanic Garden for money. He wanted to visit the United States of America to collect plants. He also offered to help improve the supply of cotton from America.

In 1809, John met Thomas Jefferson, who used to be the President of the United States. Jefferson suggested that John should base his plant research in St. Louis, Missouri. This was instead of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Joining the Pacific Fur Company

While in St. Louis, Bradbury explored the area. He sent many plant seeds back to Liverpool. In 1811, he and another naturalist, Thomas Nuttall, joined a group called the Pacific Fur Company (PFC). This group was led by Wilson Price Hunt. They planned to travel along the Missouri River. This journey is sometimes called the Astorian Expedition. It was named after John Jacob Astor, who paid for the trip.

The main group of Astorians had spent the winter on Nodaway Island. This island was near the mouth of the Nodaway River in Andrew County, Missouri. It was just north of St. Joseph. Bradbury and the expedition left their camp on April 21, 1811.

Exploring with the Expedition

On May 2, Ramsay Crooks led Bradbury and two French-Canadian travelers to the Platte River. They were ahead of the main group. The four men reached the edge of a large Otoe tribe village. But no one was there, as the villagers were out hunting.

Crooks and the others rejoined the main group at an Omaha village on May 11. There, the Omaha people traded with the expedition. They offered dried buffalo meat, fat, corn, and bone marrow. In return, they received red paint, beads, and tobacco. Bradbury noticed that two Omaha men had seen him before in St. Louis. They had seen him at the printing office of Joseph Charless. Charless published the Missouri Gazette newspaper.

Bradbury also wrote that the Omaha village had fields of Aztec tobacco, melons, beans, squashes, and corn. After their visit, the Astorians left the Omaha people. They continued to follow the Missouri River.

Meeting the Missouri Fur Company

On June 3, the expedition met employees of the Missouri Fur Company (MFC). This group was led by Manuel Lisa. An interpreter named Pierre Dorion, Jr. had been hired by Hunt in St. Louis. Dorion had worked for the MFC before and still owed them money. Lisa reminded Dorion of this debt. A fight between the two men was almost started. But Bradbury and Henry Marie Brackenridge stepped in and stopped it.

While among the Arikara people in what is now North Dakota, Bradbury decided to travel south with Lisa. He went with Lisa back to St. Louis. After arriving in St. Louis, he continued south to New Orleans, Louisiana.

The New Madrid Earthquake

While John Bradbury was traveling back to New Orleans from the Astorian Expedition, he was near Chicksaw Bluffs. This place is now Memphis, Tennessee. On December 16, 1811, he was on the Mississippi River when the first of three huge earthquakes happened. These are known as the New Madrid earthquakes.

Bradbury's personal story is believed to be the only eyewitness account of the earthquake from a scientist. He wrote about his experiences in a book called Travels in the interior of America, in the years 1809, 1810, 1811. This book was published in 1817.

Botanical Discoveries

Bradbury found and documented 40 new species of plants. He sent seeds of these plants to his son. Sadly, some of Bradbury's plants were written about by Frederick Traugott Pursh. Pursh did this without Bradbury's permission. He included them in his book Flora americae septentrionalis (which means Plants of North America). This book was published around 1813 or 1814.

Bradbury was very upset that Pursh had taken credit for his discoveries. Because his fame as a plant collector was stolen, Bradbury did not do much more work in botany after that.

Later Life and Writings

John Bradbury had planned to return to England. However, the War of 1812 made it difficult for him to travel home. During this time, he studied the states east of the Mississippi River. He later published an extra section for his Travels book. This section was called Remarks on the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, with the Illinois and Western Territory, and on the Emigrations to Those Countries.