John Macoun
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John Macoun (17 April 1831 – 18 June 1920) was an Irish-born
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
.


Early life

Macoun was born in
Magheralin Magheralin () is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the main A3 road between Moira and Lurgan, beside the River Lagan. It had a population of 2,041 people in the 2021 census. The civil parish of Magheralin co ...
,
County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in 1831, the third child of James Macoun and Anne Jane Nevin. In 1850, the worsening economic situation in Ireland led his family to
emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
to
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, where he settled in Seymour Township,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
and began
farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
. Unsatisfied as a farmer, he became a school teacher in 1856. It was during this time that he developed a nearly obsessive interest in
botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
. Although his formal education was slight, his knowledge and dedication to field work became sufficiently advanced that he gained the notice and respect of several professional botanists. By 1860 he was teaching school in Belleville, and had established correspondence with botanists such as
Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botany, botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' (1876) was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessaril ...
,
Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...
William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botany, botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew Gardens, Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botan ...
, George Lawson, and Louis-Ovide Brunet. This allowed him in 1868 to secure a faculty position as a
Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
of Botany and
Geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
at Albert College in Belleville. His marriage on 1 January 1862 to Ellen Terrill of
Brighton, Ontario Brighton is a town in Northumberland County, Ontario, Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Toronto and west of Kingston, Ontario, Kingston. It is traversed by both Ontario Highway 401, Highway 401 and the former Ontario ...
was to lead to two sons and three daughters. His elder son James Melville Macoun was his lifelong assistant. His younger son William Terrill Macoun, became the Dominion Horticulturist for Canada.


Western explorations

In 1872, Macoun was recruited to the exploratory party of Sir Sandford Fleming, then chief
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
for the proposed
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
. With Fleming's exploratory party, Macoun began his exploration at Port Arthur. Between 1872 and 1881, Macoun participated in five separate
surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...
expeditions in the Northwest. Aside from determining the best route for the railway, a major purpose of these expeditions was to determine the agricultural potential of various regions of the west. Since Macoun's travels corresponded to a time of unusually high
rainfall Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...
, he concluded that large regions of the Northwest were ideally suited to agriculture. Unfortunately, this mistakenly included the normally arid plains of southern
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
and
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
in the region now known as
Palliser's Triangle Palliser's Triangle (), or the Palliser Triangle, is a semi-arid steppe occupying a substantial portion of the Western Canadian Canadian Prairies, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, within the Great Plains region. While initially determined to be ...
, which was to become a dustbowl during the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
of the 1930s. In concert with the political consideration of forestalling northwards American expansion, Macoun's assessment contributed much to the final southern routing of the CPR across the
prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
s.


Later career

Macoun's reports from west attracted the notice of Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn, director of the
Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; , CGC) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. A branch of the Earth Science ...
(GSC), and in 1879, the Government of Canada took the unusual step of officially appointing him "Explorer of the Northwest territories". In 1881, after the mission of the GSC had been expanded to include
natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
, he moved his family to
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
and joined the GSC as "Botanist to the Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada". He remained with the GSC for 31 years and became an Assistant Director in 1887. In 1882 he became one of the charter members of the
Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...
. Every summer was dedicated to fieldwork, and for the remainder of his life Macoun was a prolific collector and cataloguer of Canadian flora and fauna, even after suffering a debilitating
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
in 1912. Macoun issued a number of exsiccatae and exsiccata-like series, among them ''Canadian Musci'' (1889-1893) and ''Canadian Lichens'' (? 1900).Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2025 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany. To this day, over 100,000 samples from his collection of plants are housed in the National
Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...
of Canada,
Canadian Museum of Nature The Canadian Museum of Nature (; CMN) is a national museums of Canada, national natural history museum based in Canada's National Capital Region (Canada), National Capital Region. The museum's exhibitions and public programs are housed in the Vi ...
, in Ottawa. Macoun died 18 July 1920 in
Sidney, British Columbia Sidney is a town located at the northern end of the Saanich Peninsula, on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia. It is one of the thirteen Greater Victoria municipalities. It has a population of approximately 11,583. Sidney ...
, and is interred in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa. Macoun marsh, on the cemetery's property, is named for him. Mount Macoun, south of the Rogers Pass is named for him as well. In 1896, N.L.Britton & A.Brown published ''Macounastrum'' (in the family
Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants known Common name, informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The Botanical name, name is Basionym, based on the genus ''Polygonum'', ...
) in Macoun's honour, this is now a synonym of '' Koenigia'' In 1974 botanist Robert Root Ireland, published ''Neomacounia nitida'', or Macoun's shining moss, which is a
moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...
, that was found only in a small area of
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, and the sole species in the genus '' Neomacounia''. This species is the only known
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
Canadian plant to become extinct since the 16th century.Extinct organisms on the ''Species at Risk Act''
accessed October 16, 2006


Bibliography

* Macoun, John (1878): ''Catalogue of the Phænogamous and Cryptogamous Plants''. * Macoun, John, George Monro Grant, Alexander Begg, John Campbell McLagan (1882): ''Manitoba and the Great North-West: the field for investment, the home of the emigrant: being a full and complete history of the country''''.
Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
: The World Publishing Company''. * Macoun, John (1883-1902): ''Catalogue of Canadian plants''. * Macoun, John, Macoun, James M. (1915): ''Catalogue of Canadian birds''. * Macoun, John (1979): ''Autobiography of John Macoun, Canadian explorer and naturalist, 1831-1920, Second Edition''. Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.


References


Further reading

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macoun, John 1831 births 1920 deaths People from Magheralin 19th-century Canadian botanists Geological Survey of Canada personnel Botanists active in North America Botanists with author abbreviations Bryologists Canadian mycologists Canadian naturalists Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario People from Northumberland County, Ontario Pre-Confederation Ontario people Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent Immigrants to the Province of Canada Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Burials at Beechwood Cemetery (Ottawa) 20th-century Canadian botanists