Rocky Ford enterprise., 1900-02-15
CARRIERS LIFE WORK.
COLLECTED MOUNTAIN FAUNA.
knswn as the Log Cabin Naturalist. hs
Devoted His Entire Time to nis Chosen
work-spseimsas - Be Moved Z" Den.
yer.

cago Record sent To bis paper the fol-
lowing very Interesting account OF the
life and work OF the late Professor Ed
win Carter:
Hunters and scientists In every part
OF the world will dcplore the death OF
Professor Edwin Carter. 'the log cabin
naturalist" whose collection OF Rocky
mountain fauna, nj breckenridge. In
this state. Is the only one exiant.
Professor Carter devoted his life to
the collection and preservation OF types
OF the animals and birds OF the Rocky
mountain recion-in fact, lie sacrincci
his life to his work. as his death. which
occurred recently. WAS caused by nr-
senical poisoning. due 10 the handling
OF polsons In stuiiins and mounting
his thousands OF specimens.
In n humble log cabin ut the foot OF
snow-cappcd mountain and com
manding n superb View Of the entire
valley OF the Blue river Ii stored the
Carter collection. which has been WIS.,
itcd by scientists from NIL parts OF the
world. and by many curious tourists.
and which has been pronounced the
hnest private collection of fHunn In cx'
Is;cncc. Thousands OF dollars have
been offered for the rnrcst specimens
which Were secured by the indefatiIn'
bic naturalist. hut Professor Carter re-
fused to part with anything that he
could not duplicate. his object being
to found u Rocky Mountain museum TO
bc located nj Denver. Now his dream
is to bc realized after his death. ns
John +. Camplon. one Of the wcaithi.r'
| minc-owncrs OF Colorado. has taken up
the matter and has Interested other
capital, SO the Carter collection VIII
nF. .lan n
a suitable building In Denver.
Professor Carter gave up wealth and
fame for the sake OF sricpcc. He came
TO Colorado In the Piks's Peak gold
rush. being one OF the hrst.comers In
Russell gulch. the Elondikc OF the
West, In 1850. In 1870 he Joined
party bound for California gulch.
where I1.advIlic now stands. He took
up a placer claim, which he finally
sold. and then prosprc;cd over the
state Of Colorado with varying success.
finally locating nt Black Hawk. whcr.
he engaged ms assistant 10 u furricr.
In order To learn the rudimcnis OF taxi
icrmy. Ills curiosity and interest wcrc
aroused by the pclis which he handled
and he determined To devote his III. To
the gathering OF nll the specimens OF
birds and animals Of the Rocky noun
ttlu rtEtpus. tie WtHt w htrNh'hEuSt
| In 1865 and then settled down To the
accomplishment OF thconc object which
he had In view. He sold out his min.
Ing interests. which We're considerable.
and. In spite OF the fact that he was
deemed one OF the finest judges OF
| placer ground In the state OF Colorado.
| he refused to locate and work valuable
claims. prcfcrrlng TO wander over the
mountain ranges. rifle In hand. study
| Ing the habits OF animals and birds
| and bringing to his log cabin such
| specimens ns he lacked. when his
cabin was filed with mounted spcci-
mems and hundreds OF carefully pr~
served pclts he bull, n larger structure
and kept on with his work. Owing To
the fact that Colorado IL the sports
mems paradise apd thousands OF hunt
crs come TO the state annually In quest
of big game. many animals have be-
come entirely extinct In the last few
years. The birds OF the state. too.
have been ruthlcssly slaughtered and
the wisdom OF Professor Cartcrs early
start In his work IL now apparent, as
there are hundreds OF specimens In the
log cabin hat cannot bc duplicated.
In order to secure enough money 10
enable hlmc TO pursue his life work.
Professor Carter sold many duplicate
specimens to naturalists In all parts
OF the world and most OF the Rocky
mountain fauna In the great museums
| OF this and other countries came from
his cabin and were mounted by his
hand. He also purchased OF other
taNidcrmists and collectors specimens
that his collection lacked. and In this
way he made his exhibit well nigh
| perfect. He had n marvellous knowl-
edge Of the habits OF the birds and
animals of tho Rockies, and. as an in
stance Of the thoroughncss which char
acterlzed his work, his collection OF
| ptarmigans includes one for most
every day Of the year. thus enabling
students OF natural history to note the
many changes which occur in the
birds plumagc. His skill as taxi
dermist and his art in imparting life.
like poses TO stuffed animals euunllcd
| his gifts of observation, and the
mounting of his specimens Is said to
he uncXccllcd. Professors OF learned
societies in all parts of the world
| Travelled TO visit the Carter museum.
In order TO gain knowledge in the fast
disappearing fauna of western Amcri-
ca. They were always treated with
distinguished courtesy by the modest,
| retiring naturalist. who seemed almost
n part of the grand, inspiring wilder
ness which he made his haunt. No in
formation was withheld. and a cOnvcr-
sation with Professor Carter on his
fnvorite theme was regarded as cuunl
to course in text books of natuarl
history.
| The museum at breckenridge pre-
sents bcwildcring sight as the visitor
enters. Stuffed buifaloes and grizzlies.
| brought down with Turtnr'g n,yn aid.
occupy the center of the room. while
around them on every side are lfc-Iikc
mountain lions, strange-colOrcd birds.
nests full of rare and beautiful eggs.
and piles of valuable and skillfully
tanned pelts. The loft is full of skins
and plumagc, and there is hardly a
foot of vacant space in the building, so
closely are the valuable specimens
packed. Professor Carter was unable
TO make an estimate of the number of
specimens he had gathered. but the to-