Ernest Thompson Seton (born Ernest Evan Thompson August 14, 1860 – October 23, 1946) was an English-born Canadian-American author, wildlife artist, founder of the

Woodcraft Indians Woodcraft League of America, originally called the Woodcraft Indians and League of Woodcraft Indians, is a youth program, established by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1901. Despite the name, the program was created for non- Indian children. At first t ...

in 1902 (renamed Woodcraft League of America), and one of the founding pioneers of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

(BSA) in 1910. Seton also influenced

Lord Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...

, the founder of one of the first Scouting organizations. His writings were published in the United Kingdom, Canada, the US, and the USSR; his notable books related to Scouting include ''The Birch Bark Roll'' and the '' Boy Scout Handbook''. He incorporated what he believed to be American Indian elements into the traditions of the BSA.

Early life

Seton was born in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

, County Durham, England of Scottish parents. His family emigrated to Canada in 1866. After settling in

Lindsay, Ontario Lindsay is a community of 22 367 people ( 2021 census) on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough. It is the seat of the City of Kawartha Lakes (formerly Victori ...

Seton spent most (after 1870) of his childhood in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, and the family is known to have lived at 6 Aberdeen Avenue in Cabbagetown. As a youth, he retreated to the woods of the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

to draw and study animals as a way of avoiding his abusive father. He attended the

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within d ...

in 1879, studying with John Colin Forbes, then won a scholarship in art to the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in London, England in 1880. In the 1890s, he studied at the Académie Julian in Paris In 1893-4, he was elected an associate member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

. On his twenty-first birthday, Seton's father presented him with an invoice for all of the expenses connected with his childhood and youth, including the fee charged by the doctor who delivered him. According to one writer, he paid the bill, but never spoke to his father again. In his autobiography, ''Trail of An Artist-naturalist: The Autobiography of Ernest Thompson Seton'', he discusses the incident in detail, but, since he hadn't "a cent of money," he could not pay his father. He went immediately to work and used the money he made to leave the household forever. In 1882, he joined his brother on a homestead outside

Carberry, Manitoba Carberry is a town in southwestern Manitoba, Canada. It is situated 3 kilometres south of the Trans-Canada Highway on Highway 5 in the Municipality of North Cypress – Langford, and has a population of 1,738 people. Economy Carberry and the sur ...

, where he began to write. In 1891, he published ''The Birds of Manitoba'' and was appointed Provincial Naturalist by the government of

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. He continued to publish books about Manitoba for decades to come, including ''The Life Histories of Northern Animals: An Account of the Mammals of Manitoba'' and lived in Manitoba until 1930, when he moved to

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

. He changed his name to Ernest Thompson Seton (after initially changing it to Ernest Seton-Thompson), believing that Seton had been an important family name. He became successful as a writer, artist, and naturalist, and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to further his career. Seton later lived at Wyndygoul, an estate that he built in

Cos Cob Cos Cob is a neighborhood and census-designated place in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. It is located on the Connecticut shoreline in southern Fairfield County. It had a population of 6,770 at the 2010 census. Cos Cob is located on the west ...

, a section of

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. After experiencing vandalism by the local youth, Seton invited them to his estate for a weekend where he told them what he claimed were stories of the American Indians and of nature. He formed the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 and invited the local youth to join. Despite the name, the group was made up of non-

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

boys and girls. The stories became a series of articles written for the ''

Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In ...

'', and were eventually collected in ''The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians'' in 1906. Shortly after, the Woodcraft Indians evolved into the Woodcraft Rangers, which was established as a non-profit organization for youth programming in 1922. Since 1922, Woodcraft Rangers has served Los Angeles youth with Seton's model of character building, which encompasses service, truth, fortitude, and beauty. Since then, Woodcraft Rangers youth have been received in a safe environment to encourage the discovery of their own talents. Today the Woodcraft Rangers organization serves over 15,000 youth in the Los Angeles county by helping them find pathways to purposeful lives. They offer expanded learning opportunities to youth from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Youth participants are encouraged to discover their natural talents and are embraced daily with the belief that all children are innately good.

Scouting

Seton met Scouting's founder,

, in 1906. Baden-Powell had read Seton's book ''The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians'' and was greatly intrigued by it. The pair met and shared ideas. Baden-Powell went on to found the Scouting movement worldwide and Seton became the president of the committee that founded the

(BSA) and was its first (and only) Chief Scout. Seton's ''

'' (a youth organization) combined with the early attempts at Scouting from the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

and other organizations and with

Daniel Carter Beard Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard (June 21, 1850 – June 11, 1941) was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, Georgist and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of Am ...

Sons of Daniel Boone The Sons of Daniel Boone (sometimes called the Society of the Sons of Daniel Boone), later the Boy Pioneers of America, was a youth program developed by Daniel Carter Beard in 1905 based on the American frontiersman. When Dan Beard joined the Boy ...

, to form the BSA. The work of Seton and Beard is in large part the basis of the

Traditional Scouting Traditional Scouting is "old-fashioned" or "back to basics" Scouting in some form, often with an emphasis on woodcraft and scoutcraft activities. As a pluralist movement, there is no one set definition for the term, but most traditionalists share ...

movement. Seton served as Chief Scout of the BSA from 1910 to 1915 and incorporated what he believed to be American Indian elements into the traditions of the BSA. He had significant personality and philosophical clashes with Beard and James E. West. In addition to disputes about the content of Seton's contributions to the Boy Scout Handbook, conflicts also arose about the

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

activities of his wife, Grace Gallatin Seton Thompson, and his British citizenship. The citizenship issue arose partly because of his high position within the BSA and the federal charter West was attempting to obtain for the BSA requiring its board members to be United States citizens. Seton drafted his written resignation on January 29, 1915, but did not send it to the BSA until May. The position of Chief Scout was eliminated and the position "Chief Scout Executive" was taken on by James West. In 1931, Seton became a United States citizen.

Personal life

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

by birth Seton was not naturalized as

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

(as status did not legally exist until 1947 thus remained a British subject) and became an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

in 1931. He was married twice. His first marriage was to Grace Gallatin in 1896. Their only daughter, Ann (1904–1990), later known as

Anya Seton Anya Seton (January 23, 1904 – November 8, 1990), born Ann Seton, was an American author of historical fiction, or as she preferred they be called, "biographical novels". Career Seton published her first novel, ''My Theodosia'', in 1941. Seton ...

, became a best-selling author of historical and biographical novels. According to Ann's introduction to the novel '' Green Darkness'', Grace was a practicing

Theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...

. Ernest and Grace divorced in 1935, and Ernest soon married Julia Moss Buttree. Julia wrote works by herself and with Ernest. They did not have any biological children, but in the 1930s they sought to adopt Moss Buttree's niece, Leila Moss, who lived with them for years in New Mexico. In 1938, they adopted an infant daughter, Beulah (Dee) Seton (later Dee Seton Barber). Dee Seton Barber, a talented embroiderer of articles for synagogues such as Torah mantles, died in 2006. Seton called his father, Joseph Logan Thompson, "the most selfish man I ever knew, or heard of, in history or in fiction." He cut off ties completely after being made to pay off an itemized list of all expenses he had cost his father, up to and including the doctor's fee for his delivery, a total of $537.50. Seton's parents lived out their lives in Toronto, as did brother John Enoch Thompson (abt. 1846–1932). Two brothers, Joseph Logan Thompson (1849–1922) and Charles Seton Thompson (1851–1925), moved to British Columbia. Besides Seton, George Seton Thompson (1854–1944) moved to Illinois and died there.

Writing and later life

Seton was an early pioneer of the modern school of animal fiction writing, his most popular work being '' Wild Animals I Have Known'' (1898), which contains the story of his killing of the wolf Lobo. He later became involved in a literary debate known as the

nature fakers controversy The nature fakers controversy was an early 20th-century American literary debate highlighting the conflict between science and sentiment in popular nature writing. The debate involved important American literary, environmental and political fi ...

, after John Burroughs published an article in 1903 in the ''Atlantic Monthly'' attacking writers of sentimental animal stories. The controversy lasted for four years and included important American environmental and political figures of the day, including President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. In 1907, Seton and the naturalist

Edward Alexander Preble Edward Alexander Preble (born in Somerville, Massachusetts on ; died ) was an American naturalist and conservationist. He is noted for work in studying birds and mammals of the Pacific Northwest. He also acted as an editor for nature magazines. ...

verified a claim from 10 years earlier by the frontiersman Charles "Buffalo" Jones that Jones and his hunting party had shot and fended off a hungry

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

pack near the

Great Slave Lake Great Slave Lake (french: Grand lac des Esclaves), known traditionally as Tıdeè in Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì (Dogrib), Tinde’e in Wıìlıìdeh Yatii / Tetsǫ́t’ıné Yatıé (Dogrib / Chipewyan), Tu Nedhé in Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé (Chi ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Seton and Preble discovered the remains of the animals near Jones's long abandoned cabin. For his work, ''Lives of Game Animals Volume 4'', Seton was awarded the

Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal The Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for meritorious work in zoology or paleontology study published in a three- to five-year period." Named after Daniel Giraud Elliot, it was first awarded in 1917. ...

from the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 1928. In 1931, he became a

United States citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

. Seton was associated with the Santa Fe arts and literary community during the mid-1930s and early 1940s, which was a group of artists and authors, including author and artist

Alfred Morang Alfred Gwynne Morang (1901–1958) was an American painter, writer, art critic and active member of the Santa Fe art colony. Alfred Morang was born in Ellsworth, Maine in 1901. His early education was in violin playing, writing and painting. He ...

, sculptor and potter Clem Hull, painter

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Ame ...

, painter Randall Davey, painter

Raymond Jonson Raymond Jonson (July 18, 1891 – May 10, 1982), was an American-born Modernist painter known for his paintings of the American Southwest. Born Carl Raymond Johnson, he originally signed his paintings C. Raymond Johnson, but later used Ray ...

, leader of the Transcendental Painters Group and artist Eliseo Rodriguez. He was made a member of the

. In 1933, Seton purchased 100 acres (0.4 km2) in

Santa Fe County Santa Fe County ( es, Condado de Santa Fe; meaning ''Holy faith'' in Spanish) is located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 144,170, making it New Mexico's third-most populous county, after Bernalillo Cou ...

, New Mexico, United States. Seton ran training camps for youth leaders and had a small publisher named Seton Village Press that closed in 1943 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The tract eventually grew to 2,500 acres (10 km²).

Seton Village Seton Village is a National Historic Landmark District in a rural residential area south of Santa Fe in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It encompasses a residential settlement and educational facility established in 1930 by Ernest Tho ...

was established as an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

. Seton designed and built his castle as a 32-room, 6,900 square foot (640 m²) multi-level building with a flat-roof and rough hewn stone wall exterior. The interior had oak floors and plaster walls with the ceilings supported by log rafters. The castle was built on a hill at an elevation of 7,000 feet (2100 m). It is designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

and a New Mexico State Cultural Property. The castle burned down while being restored in 2005. The

Academy for the Love of Learning The Academy for the Love of Learning is a non-profit organization conceived by American composers Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Stern. The Academy was incorporated as a 501(c)3 in 1998. Its campus is located in southeast Santa Fe, NM, on the former e ...

, which owns the property, has decided to preserve the castle ruins as a "contemplative garden."

Death

He died in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, at the age of 86. Seton was cremated in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, New Mexico. In 1960, in honor of his 100th birthday and the 350th anniversary of Santa Fe, his daughter, Dee and his grandson, Seton Cottier (son of Anya), scattered the ashes over Seton Village from an

airplane An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spe ...

Legacy

The

Philmont Scout Ranch Philmont Scout Ranch is a ranch located in Colfax County, New Mexico, near the village of Cimarron; it covers of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the east side of the Cimarron Range of the Rocky Mountains. Donated by oil baro ...

houses the Seton Memorial Library and Museum. Seton Castle in Santa Fe, built by Seton as his last residence, housed many of his other items. Seton Castle burned down in 2005 during an attempt at restoration, but all the artwork, manuscripts, books, etc., had been removed to storage before renovation was to have begun. The

, an educational organization in Santa Fe, acquired Seton Castle and its contents in 2003. The new Academy Center that opened in 2011 includes a gallery and archives featuring artwork and other materials as part of its Seton Legacy Project. The Seton Legacy Project organized a major exhibition on Seton opening at the

New Mexico History Museum The New Mexico History Museum is a history museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or s ...

on May 23, 2010, the catalog published as ''Ernest Thompson Seton: The Life and Legacy of an Artist and Conservationist'' by David L. Witt.

Roger Tory Peterson Roger Tory Peterson (August 28, 1908 – July 28, 1996) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, illustrator and educator, and one of the founding inspirations for the 20th-century environmental movement. Background Peterson was born in Jam ...

drew inspiration for his field guide from the simple diagram of ducks that Seton included in ''Two Little Savages''. Seton is honored by the Ernest Thompson Seton Scout Reservation in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and other ...

, and with the

E.T. Seton Park E.T. Seton Park is a public park located in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main entrance is located at 73 Thorncliffe Park Drive, with additional entrances at the junction of Don Mills Road and Gateway Boulevard North, ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Obtained in the early 1960s as the site of the future Metro Toronto Zoo, the land was later used to establish parkland and home to the

Ontario Science Centre The Ontario Science Centre, formally the Centennial Museum of Science and Technology, is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of Eg ...

. A plaque is found on the front wall of 6 Aberdeen Avenue in Toronto, where Seton had lived as a child.

In pop culture

In television

'' Monarch: The Big Bear of Tallac'' (, ''Seton Doubutsuki: Kuma no Ko Jacky'') was a 26-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series based on Seton's novel of the same name, and was first broadcast in 1977. In 1979, a 26-episode anime series based on Seton's 1922 book '' Bannertail: The Story of a Gray Squirrel'' was produced in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginza district of Chūō and production facilities in Tama City. Nippon Animation is known for producing numerous anime series based on works of ...

, called ''Bannertail: The Story of Gray Squirrel'' (, ''Shīton Dōbutsuki Risu no Banā''). In 1989–1990,

Eiken Eiken may refer to: Places Norway * Eiken, Norway, a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county * Eiken, Agder, a village in Hægebostad municipality in Agder county ** Eiken Church, a church in Hægebostad municipality in Agder county Swi ...

released ''Seton Dōbutsuki'' (, '''Seton Animal Chronicles'''), a 45-episode anime TV series adapted from the manga ''

Seton's Wild Animals is a manga series by Sanpei Shirato published in two parts: three volumes published by Shogakukan from 1961 to 1962, and two volumes published by Seirindō in 1964 under the title . All five volumes were based on works by noted author and w ...

'' (), depicting the different literary works of Seton, including his 1898 '' Wild Animals I Have Known''. "Lobo, the King of Currumpaw" (episodes 17 and 18) was a notable episode of the show which many viewers later learned of when the storyline was plotted into a popular 2009 TV documentary entitled ''

The Wolf That Changed America ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

''. The cartoon was dubbed in German, Catalan, and Arabic, and saw an emerging popularity among Arabs in the early 1990s as ''Mokhles Sadik ul Hayawaan'' (, Mokhles, Animals' Friend'''). "Chink, the Development of a Pup" was adapted into a cartoon in Russian in 1992. In October 2015, the Comedy Central show '' Drunk History'' gave a short, drunk history lesson by Mike Still (season 3, episode 10, second act) in which Seton is portrayed by

Colin Hanks Colin Lewes Hanks (born November 24, 1977) is an American actor. He has starred in films including '' Orange County'', ''King Kong'', '' The House Bunny'', '' The Great Buck Howard'', and the ''Jumanji'' film series. His television credits includ ...

. It mostly concentrates on the story of Lobo, but also mentions the roots of the Boy Scouts and helping out troubled teens.

In literature and manga

The five-volume manga ''

'' () by

Sanpei Shirato , known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist and essayist known for his social criticism as well as the realism of his drawing style and the characters in his scenarios. He was considered a pioneer of the controversial ''gekiga'' genre ...

, published between 1961 and 1965, portrayed the various literary works of Seton. Kenji Uchiyama translated Seton's work for the manga from English into Japanese. In 1988,

Yury Iosifovich Koval Yury Iosifovich Koval (russian: link=no, Юрий Иосифович Коваль, February 9, 1938 in Moscow – August 2, 1995 in Moscow) was a Russian author, artist, and screenplay writer. Biography Yury Koval was born in Moscow in 1938. ...

published a short novel called ''Шамайка'' (''Shamayka''), a retelling of ''The Slum Cat''. In a 1993 issue of the Japanese manga '' Diamond is Unbreakable'', the character

Jotaro Kujo is a fictional character in the Japanese manga series ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. The main protagonist of the series' third story arc, '' Stardust Crusaders'', Jotaro is depicted as a rough delinque ...

references Seton's quote "there is no animal that cannot be tracked". Several of Seton's works are written from the perspective of a predator and were an influence upon Robert T. Bakker's ''

Raptor Red ''Raptor Red'' is a 1995 American novel by paleontologist Robert T. Bakker. The book is a third-person account of dinosaurs during the Cretaceous Period, told from the point of view of Raptor Red, a female ''Utahraptor''. ''Raptor Red'' feature ...

'' (1995). From 2004–2006, manga artist

Jiro Taniguchi was a Japanese manga writer/artist. His works belong to the gekiga, or "dramatic pictures", genre of manga. In France he was knighted a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2011. Career Taniguchi began his career as an assist ...

and scenarist Yoshiharu Imaizumi published ''Shīton'' (), a four-volume manga romanticizing the life of Seton. These mangas were not translated into English, but appeared in French, Italian and Spanish. The French titles are: # ''Lobo, le Roi des Loups'' ('Lobo, King of Wolves') # ''Le jeune garçon et le lynx'' ('The Young boy and the Lynx') # ''Sandhill Stag'' ('Sandhill Stag') # ''Monarch, l'ours du mont Tallac'' (Monarch, Mount Tallac Bear) Seton's appearance inspired the design of the character Shiton Anehata, a scholar and zoophile who is one of the

Abashiri is a city located in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Abashiri is known as the site of the Abashiri Prison, a Meiji-era facility used for the incarceration of political prisoners. The old prison has been turned into a museum, but the cit ...

convicts in the manga '' Golden Kamui''. Seton is also mentioned in

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

's 2010 novel, '' Nemesis'', where he is credited for having introduced Indian lore to the American camping movement.

Works

* ''Mammals of Manitoba'' (1886) * ''Birds of Manitoba, Foster'' (1891) * ''How to Catch Wolves'' (1894) * ''Studies in the Art Anatomy of Animals'' (1896) * '' Wild Animals I Have Known'' (1898) **"

Lobo the King of Currumpaw "Lobo, the King of Currumpaw" is the first story of author Ernest Thompson Seton's 1898 book '' Wild Animals I Have Known''. Seton based the book on his experience hunting wolves in the Southwestern United States. Summary Lobo was a North Ameri ...

" * ''The Trail of the Sandhill Stag'' (1899) * ''The Wild Animal Play for Children'' (musical) (1900) * ''The Biography of a Grizzly'' (1900) * ''Tito: The Story of the Coyote That Learned How'' (1900) * ''Bird Portraits'' (1901) * ''Lives of the Hunted'' (1901) * ''Twelve Pictures of Wild Animals'' (1901) * ''Krag and Johnny Bear'' (1902) * ''How to Play Indian'' (1903) * ''Two Little Savages'' (1903) * ''How to Make a Real Indian Teepee'' (1903) * ''How Boys Can Form a Band of Indians'' (1903) * ''The Red Book'' (1904) * ''Monarch, the Big Bear of Tallac'' (1904) * ''Woodmyth & Fable'' (1905) * ''Animal Heroes'' (1905) * ''The Birchbark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians'' (1906) * ''The Natural History of the Ten Commandments'' (1907) * ''Fauna of Manitoba, British Assoc. Handbook'' (1909) * ''Biography of a Silver Fox'' (1909) * ''Life-Histories of Northern Animals'' (two volumes) (1909) * '' Boy Scouts of America: Official Handbook'', with General Sir

Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...

(1910) * ''The Forester's Manual'' (1910) * ''The Arctic Prairies'' (1911) * ''Rolf in the Woods'' (1911) * ''The Book of Woodcraft and Indian Lore'' (1912) * ''The Red Lodge'' (1912) * ''Wild Animals at Home'' (1913) * ''The Slum Cat'' (1915) * ''Legend of the White Reindeer'' (1915) * ''The Manual of the Woodcraft Indians'' (1915) * ''Wild Animal Ways'' (1916) * ''Woodcraft Manual for Girls'' (1916) * ''The Preacher of Cedar Mountain'' (1917) * ''Woodcraft Manual for Boys; the Sixteenth Birch Bark Roll'' (1917) * ''The Woodcraft Manual for Boys; the Seventeenth Birch Bark Roll'' (1918) * ''The Woodcraft Manual for Girls; the Eighteenth Birch Bark Roll'' (1918) * ''Sign Talk of the Indians'' (1918) * ''The Laws and Honors of the Little Lodge of Woodcraft'' (1919) * ''The Brownie Wigwam: The Rules of the Brownies'' (1921) * ''The Buffalo Wind'' (1921) * ''Woodland Tales'' (1921) * ''The Book of Woodcraft'' (1921) * ''The Book of Woodcraft and Indian Lore'' (1922) * '' Bannertail: The Story of a Gray Squirrel'' (1922) * ''Manual of the Brownies'', 6th edition (1922) * ''The Ten Commandments in the Animal World'' (1923) * ''Animals'' (1926) * ''Animals Worth Knowing'' (1928) * ''Lives of Game Animals'' (four volumes) (1925–1928) * ''Blazes on the Trail'' (1928) * ''Krag, the Kootenay Ram and Other Stories'' (1929) * ''Billy the Dog That Made Good'' (1930) * ''Cute Coyote and Other Stories'' (1930) * ''Lobo, Bingo, The Pacing Mustang'' (1930) * ''Famous Animal Stories'' (1932) * ''Animals Worth Knowing'' (1934) * ''Johnny Bear, Lobo and Other Stories'' (1935) * ''The Gospel of the Redman'', with Julia Seton (1936) * ''Biography of An Arctic Fox'' (1937) * ''Great Historic Animals'' (1937) * ''Mainly about Wolves'' (1937) * ''Pictographs of the Old Southwest'' (1937) * ''Buffalo Wind'' (1938) * ''Trail and Camp-Fire Stories'' (1940) * ''Trail of an Artist-Naturalist: The Autobiography of Ernest Thompson Seton'' (1940) * ''Santanna, the Hero Dog of France'' (1945) * ''The Best of Ernest Thompson Seton'' (1949) * ''Ernest Thompson Seton's America'' (1954) * ''Animal Tracks and Hunter Signs'' (1958) * ''The Worlds of Ernest Thompson Seton'' (1976)

References

''The Birch Bark Roll''

External links

Comprehensive biographical information on Ernest Thompson Seton

Ernest Thompson Seton Institute

Ernest Thompson Seton's scientific collections at Philmont

Seton Village site at the NPS

On-line Seton art exhibition and collections

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Academy for the Love of Learning

Woodcraft Rangers

The Seton Centre

Seton Legacy Project at Academy for the Love of Learning

Ernest Thompson Seton: Life and Work at World Wisdom

Ernest Thompson Seton fonds (R7616)
at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seton, Ernest Thompson 1860 births 1946 deaths American naturalists American non-fiction outdoors writers John Burroughs Medal recipients Artists from Greenwich, Connecticut People from Santa Fe County, New Mexico Scouting pioneers Sustainability advocates 19th-century American writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Académie Julian alumni Wildlife artists 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters American male painters 19th-century American male writers People from Cos Cob, Connecticut People from South Shields Writers from Tyne and Wear English emigrants to the United States 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Writers from Manitoba Canadian naturalists Canadian people of Scottish descent Boy Scouts of America 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists