Nature Bulletin No. 444-A    February 12, 1972
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
George W. Dunne, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation

****:ERNEST THOMPSON SETON

When we old codgers were boys there was a book for youngsters, titled 
"Lobo, Rag and Vixen", written and illustrated by Ernest Seton 
Thompson about a wolf, a rabbit and a fox. In the Youth's Companion, 
St. Nicholas and other magazines there were stories about animals, 
Indians and Woodcraft by the same author. In 1898 his "Wild Animals 
I have Known" was published, followed by "Lives of the Hunted" in 
1901, and "Animal Heroes" in 1905. We read these fascinating books 
again and again.

That was the pen name used by Ernest Thompson Seton until after the 
death of his mother, although one of his early writings was signed 
Ernest E. T. Seton and some of his drawings as Ernest E. Thompson. 
His great-grandfather Lord Seton, was Earl of Winton but his father 
never assumed the title and took the name of Thompson, another 
ancestor. Ernest, tenth son of these Scottish parents, was born in South 
Fields, England, in 1860. He was christened with a middle name, 
Evan, in honor of a wolf-hunting ancestor and always used the imprint 
of a wolf track as his insignia. He died at Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 
1946.

In 1866 his family emigrated to Canada and settled in the forested 
wilderness of Ontario. After four years of hardships they moved to 
Toronto and there, when 18 years old, Ernest won a gold medal in the 
Ontario Art School. He then persuaded his father to let him go to 
London where he succeeded in entering the art school of the Royal 
Academy of Arts and Sciences and won a scholarship. At the same 
time he studied in the library of the British Museum, became inspired 
by the writings of the great American naturalists, and decided to 
become one.

Subsequently, Seton spent many years of travel over the prairies, 
mountains and wilderness areas of Canada and the United States. 
Every day he made scientific records, measurements, sketches and 
notes. From these journals he produced forty-odd books, most of them 
out of print now, and a great number of magazine articles. Some of 
these books -- all superbly illustrated by himself -- are classics 
treasured in every natural history library. His "Lives of North 
American Game Animals" and "Lives of Game Animals" are standard 
reference books in every university, museum and zoo.

Seton was chairman of the committee which brought the Boy Scout 
movement to the United States, served as Chief Scout for five years, 
and wrote their first outdoor manual. He also founded the Woodcraft 
League and, at his home near Greenwich, Connecticut, conducted 
training courses for leaders of children's groups. He was a great 
teacher.

Ernest Thompson Seton's America -- a recent volume edited and with 
an introduction by Miss Farida A. Wiley -- contains choice selections 
from his books and articles, also some fine examples of his thousands 
of illustrations. He was unsurpassed as an illustrator -- either in a 
sketch which captured the action of people or animals with just a few 
lines, or in a finished drawing. He was a marvelous story teller and 
imitator of animal calls who gave over 300 lectures during his 
lifetime. He was a top-notch scientist whose reputation grows greater 
as the years go by. His writings are just as authoritative today as when 
first published. They are just as fresh and enjoyable by both young and 
old .

He lived with nature. He recorded it as it was and is.