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 The California Geological Survey, previously known as the California Division of Mines and Geology, is the California state geologic agency. History Although it was not until 1880 that the California State Mining Bureau, predecessor to the Cal ...

(1860–1874) with Josiah Dwight Whitney, William Henry Brewer 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 enroll ...

. 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 kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

, 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 w ...

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 eighth most populous city in the United States ...

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 2 ...

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, 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 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.

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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

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