Saxton Temple Pope (September 4, 1875 – August 8, 1926) was an American doctor, teacher, author and outdoorsman. He is most famous as the father of modern

bow hunting Bowhunting (or bow hunting) is the practice of hunting game animals by archery. Many indigenous peoples have employed the technique as their primary hunting method for thousands of years, and it has survived into contemporary use for sport and hu ...

, and for his close relationship with

Ishi Ishi ( – March 25, 1916) was the last known member of the Native American Yahi people from the present-day state of California in the United States. The rest of the Yahi (as well as many members of their parent tribe, the Yana) were kill ...

, the last member of the

Yahi The Yana were a group of Native Americans indigenous to Northern California in the central Sierra Nevada, on the western side of the range. Their lands, prior to encroachment by white settlers, bordered the Pit and Feather rivers. They were ...

tribe and the last known American Indian to be raised largely isolated from Western culture.

Early life

Born in

Fort Stockton, Texas Fort Stockton is a city in and the county seat of Pecos County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, future Interstate 14, U.S. Highways U.S. Route 67 (Texas), 67, U.S. Route 285 (Texas), 285, and U.S. R ...

as the son of an army surgeon, Pope grew up in military camps and frontier towns, where he learned outdoor skills and became an athlete. This is where he first learned archery, as well as horsemanship, riflery, knifemaking, and other skills. He built and attempted to fly a glider. He later went to medical school at the University of California, graduating in 1899. He set up a practice in

Watsonville, California Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, located in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 according to the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Predomi ...

near San Francisco, married Emma Wightman, a medical school classmate, and had four children. In 1912, he became a surgical instructor at the medical school.

Relationship with Ishi

The medical school where Pope taught was located near the museum where Ishi worked as a janitor, having been brought there for study by Professor T. T. Waterman of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

Department of Anthropology. Because Ishi had grown up in the isolated Yahi tribe, he had little immunity to diseases, and Pope met Ishi during his stays at the University hospital. Pope learned some of the Yahi language, and spent much time with Ishi, learning of his life and listening to the Yahi tribal folklore. Ishi taught Pope how to make bows and arrows as the Yahi did, and how to hunt with them. Pope and Ishi remained close until Ishi's death from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in 1916. In spite of this close relationship and against the frequently stated wishes of his Yahi friend, Pope insisted that Ishi be autopsied after death and his brain removed.

Later life

Pope became an avid bowhunter during his time with Ishi, and he continued that after Ishi's death. In 1920, with special permission, Pope and a companion, Arthur Young, went hunting

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

s in

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

with hand made bows and steel tipped arrows, taking several. The stuffed and mounted bears are on display at the California Academy of Sciences. Pope later wrote a book, ''Hunting with the Bow and Arrow'', which remains in print. He continued bowhunting until his death in 1926 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Legacy

Saxton Pope and Arthur Young have been honored as the namesakes of the Pope and Young Club, an organization dedicated to bowhunting which continues today and includes its own world record book for North American game, taken in Fair Chase, with bow and arrow. He also reintroduced traditional bow and arrow making skills learned from Ishi to other Native Americans whose communities had lost the art.

References

External links

www.pope-young.org saxtonpope.com y his biographer* * *
Saxton T. Pope archival collection at UCSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Saxton American hunters 1875 births 1926 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in the United States