Robert Douglas (April 20, 1813 – June 1, 1897) was an English American horticulturalist. Douglas also made contributions as a forestry consultant, working with Frederick Law Olmsted on several projects, including the

Biltmore Estate Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore House (or Biltmore Mansion), the main residence, is a Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 a ...

Biography

Robert Douglas was born in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

, England on April 20, 1813. As an adult, he emigrated to Canada in 1836, then to Vermont, United States. Douglas then settled in Little Fort, Illinois (now known as Waukegan) in 1844. Douglas enjoyed traveling and made a trip to the Pacific Ocean during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

via the Humboldt River route. There he found that the native '' Pseudotsuga menziesii'' was adaptable and could be cultivated in the Midwestern United States. Douglas also identified the timber potential for the western catalpa and the hardiness of the blue spruce. He also promoted the cultivation of the European larch in the United States. Douglas was also a forestry consultant and frequently associated with landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. He helped Olmsted to plan the tree plantings of the

. He worked on a similar project with Olmsted for

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. In 1875, he co-founded the American Forestry Association. Douglas oversaw forestry operations for the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railway in Farlington, Kansas from 1879 to 1885. The farm raised catalpas; the lumber was intended to be used for cross ties. Douglas on June 1, 1897, thought to be from complications of a stroke.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Robert 1813 births 1897 deaths American naturalists People from Gateshead People from Waukegan, Illinois American horticulturists History of forestry in the United States