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Titian Ramsay Peale, naturalist, scientific illustrator, and explorer, meticulously depicted the birds, insects, and plants of the Central Plains with high-quality sketches and paintings during the 1820s and 1830s.
Peale was born on November 2, 1799, in
Philadelphia, the son of Charles Willson Peale,
an artist who founded the Philadelphia (or
Peale's) Museum. From an early age he demonstrated
an unusual ability as a naturalist
and artist. Peale's first exploration came on an
1817 trip to eastern Florida and the Sea Islands
of Carolina. Then, in 1819, he was appointed as
the assistant naturalist for Maj. Stephen H.
Long's scientific expedition. Ordered to explore
the Central Plains and the major streams
that crossed it, the scientists began their journey
aboard the steamboat Western Engineer.
They halted for the winter of 1819–20 near
present-day Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. The next
summer Long led the group overland along
the Platte River to the Front Range of the
Rockies. For three months they observed,
mapped, sketched, and gathered plant and animal
specimens, returning along the Arkansas
and Canadian Rivers. Because of the scarcity
of water and trees on the Plains they traversed,
the explorers labeled the region the Great
American Desert.
Peale's ensuing reputation as a scientific illustrator resulted from the 122 paintings and drawings he made while on the expedition. His work included colored plates of birds drawn for Alexander Wilson's
See also WAR: Long, Stephen H..