James Graham Cooper (June 19, 1830 – July 19, 1902) was an American surgeon and naturalist. Cooper was born in New York. He worked for the California Geological Survey (1860–1874) with

Josiah Dwight Whitney Josiah Dwight Whitney (November 23, 1819 – August 18, 1896) was an American geologist, professor of geology at Harvard University (from 1865), and chief of the California Geological Survey (1860–1874). Through his travels and studies in the ...

William Henry Brewer William Henry Brewer (September 14, 1828 – November 2, 1910) was an American botanist. He worked on the first California Geological Survey and was the first Chair of Agriculture at Yale University's Sheffield Scientific School. Biography Wil ...

and

Henry Nicholas Bolander Henry Nicholas Bolander (February 22, 1831 – August 28, 1897) was a German-American botanist and educator. Bolander was born in Schlüchtern, Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1846. He joined his uncle in Columbus, Ohio and enrol ...

. He was primarily a

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, but he also made significant

botanical Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

collections from

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

Fort Mohave, Arizona Fort Mohave is an unincorporated community and CDP in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named for a nearby fort that was used during the Mohave War. As of the 2020 census, the population of Fort Mohave was 16,190, up from 14,364 in 20 ...

in 1861. Cooper was active in the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

, eventually becoming Director of the Museum. He obtained his medical degree in 1851 and practiced in New York City until 1853.

Spencer F. Baird Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He eventuall ...

, the Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution at that time, helped Cooper work with the Pacific railroad survey parties working in the Washington Territory. He joined this survey under Captain

George McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...

as a surgeon until 1854. In 1855 he visited San Francisco and the Panama Isthmus. He collected many birds during this expedition. In 1860, he returned west and joined the Blake Expedition that went from St. Louis up to the Missouri River and into Idaho and Washington. He worked as a contract surgeon for brief periods with the US Army and Josiah Whitney, the chief of the California Geological Survey. Along with Baird he wrote a book on the birds of California "Ornithology, Volume I, Land Birds" in 1870. His marriage in 1866 made it difficult for him to balance his interest in natural history. He worked in San Mateo, Oakland, San Francisco and finally settled in 1875 in Hayward. He wrote on his difficulties in a letter in 1870 His father

William Cooper William Cooper may refer to: Business *William Cooper (accountant) (1826–1871), founder of Cooper Brothers * William Cooper (businessman) (1761–1840), Canadian businessman *William Cooper (co-operator) (1822–1868), English co-operator * Will ...

was also a naturalist.

References

External links

Santa Clara Valley Audubon SocietyDigitized and transcribed journal, 1853 - 1854Digitized and transcribed journal, 1855 - 1856
American naturalists American surgeons 1830 births 1902 deaths People associated with the California Academy of Sciences People from Hayward, California Scientists from California 19th-century American botanists 19th-century American zoologists {{US-physician-stub

See also

References

Further reading

External links