James Edwin Baum (November 15, 1887December 1, 1955) was an American journalist and big-game hunter. After running away from home he worked as a wrangler before finding employment as a reporter at the '' Omaha Daily Bee''. After a stint with the '' Chicago Daily News'' and an investment firm Baum served as a pilot during World War I. He worked as a cattle rancher after the war and at the ''

Chicago Evening Journal The ''Chicago Daily Journal'' (''Chicago Evening Journal'' from 1861–1896) was a Chicago newspaper that published from 1844 to 1929.(11 June 1928)The Press: Chicago Journal ''Time'' Journalism Originally a Whig paper, by the late 1850s it firml ...

''. Baum rejoined the ''Chicago Daily News'' in 1925 and accompanied the paper's 1926–27 Abyssinia expedition during which he shot big game specimens for the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

. Afterwards he wrote several fiction and non-fiction books and undertook other expeditions for the museum.

Biography

James Edwin Baum was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on November 15, 1887. At the age of 14 he ran away from home and freighthopped to Wyoming where he found work as a wrangler. Baum worked as a reporter at the '' Omaha Daily Bee'' from 1908 to 1914, apart from a brief period in 1910 when he attended Princeton University. He was afterwards hunting and fishing columnist for the '' Chicago Daily News'' and in 1914 worked for an investment firm in Boston. Baum served as a pilot during World War I and afterwards, from 1919 to 1922, was a cattle rancher in Wyoming. He was president of the Chicago Brick Company in 1923 and a reporter at the ''

'' until 1925. In 1925 he returned to the ''Chicago Daily News'' and, with

Louis Agassiz Fuertes Louis Agassiz Fuertes (February 7, 1874 Ithaca, New York – August 22, 1927 Unadilla, New York) was an American ornithologist, illustrator and artist who set the rigorous and current-day standards for ornithological art and naturalist depiction ...

, planned the newspaper's 1926–27 expedition to Abyssinia. The expedition was a joint venture with the

and Baum's role was to hunt big game for the museum's African dioramas. He wrote the book ''Savage Abyssinia'' about the expedition in 1927 and updated this as ''Unknown Ethiopia'' in 1935. Baum later hunted big game in Alaska and undertook a number of other expeditions for the Field Museum. He wrote the fiction works ''Stepping Ahead of the Bank Crook'' in 1925, ''Spears in the Sun'' in 1928, ''Gold and a Girl'' in 1929 and ''Adventures of Gilead Skaggs'' in 1941. In retirement Baum spent his summers in

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest ...

, and winters in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...

. He died in a hospital in Palm Beach on December 1, 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baum, James Edwin 1887 births 1955 deaths Writers from Lincoln, Nebraska Journalists from Nebraska American hunters Princeton University alumni