Wilbur Clinton Knight (13 December 1858 – 28 July 1903) was a geologist and founding professor of geology at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

. He also served as state geologist for Wyoming and produced some of the earliest geological maps of the region. His son

Samuel Howell Knight Samuel Howell "Doc" Knight (31 July 1892 – 1 February 1975) was an American geologist who taught at the University of Wyoming and also served as a state geologist from 1933 to 1941. Known as "Doc" Knight, he was an influential teacher, noted for ...

also became a geologist of repute. The genus ''

Knightia ''Knightia'' is an extinct genus of clupeid bony fish that lived in the freshwater lakes and rivers of North America and Asia during the Eocene epoch. The genus was erected by David Starr Jordan in 1907, in honor of the late University of Wyom ...

'' is named in his honor.

Life and work

Knight was born at

Rochelle, Illinois Rochelle is a city in Ogle County, Illinois. The population was 9,446 at the 2020 census. Rochelle is approximately west of Chicago and south of Rockford. History Originally named Hickory Grove, the town sits at the intersection of two rail ...

from where his father David moved to farm in

Blue Springs, Nebraska Blue Springs is a city in Gage County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 282 at the 2020 census. History Blue Springs was founded in the 1850s. It was named for the local springs, long thought by Native Americans thought to hold medi ...

. He then went to the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, and graduated in 1886. He briefly considered studying botany. He then worked as an assayer at Swan Testing and Sampling Company from 1887 in

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

, he became superintendent of mines in 1888 for Colorado and Wyoming. He also studied for his master's degree which he received in 1893. He became state geologist for Wyoming in 1898 and received a doctorate in 1901. He became chair of geology and mining engineering at the University of Wyoming in 1893 and was involved in establishing the department and the teaching of geology in the state. He also founded the geological museum for which he made collections himself while also making use of the services of

William Harlow Reed William Harlow Reed (9 June 1848 – 24 April 1915) was an American fossil collector and pioneer. He served as a curator at the Museum of Geology at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. He collected for a while for Othniel Charles Marsh but left a ...

. In 1900 he produced one of the earliest geological maps of Wyoming. Knight discovered fossil elephants in Wyoming in 1903 and estimated the

Cenozoic Era The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

to have lasted around four million years. He was a pioneer of the use of photography in paleontology. He often led geological excursions for his students as well as for interested people. In 1899 he took a party of about 100 fossil collectors around Como Bluff and the Grand Canyon. Free transportation was provided by the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1902, he published one of his last works being on the birds of Wyoming. Knight married Elizabeth Emma Howell, a fellow student at the University of Nebraska, in 1889. Emma Knight worked in education and became the first dean of women at the University of Wyoming. They had three children, of whom Samuel Howell Knight followed his father as a geologist and professor at the University of Wyoming. Knight was also musically talented and played for the University band. He was also an associate of the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

. Knight died from peritonitis following a ruptured appendix. The genus ''

'' was named in his honor, which was in 1987 chosen as the state fossil of Wyoming. File:Reconnaissance_geological_map_of_Wyoming.jpg, Reconnaissance geological map of Wyoming, 1900

References

External links

The Birds of Wyoming (1902)

The fossil fields of Wyoming
(1909)
Samuel Knight photograph collection at the American Heritage Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Wilbur Clinton 1858 births 1903 deaths American geologists