William J. Fisher: Botanizing in the Alaskan Wilderness
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
May 26, 1830
On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, we celebrate the birth of a most intriguing figure in the annals of botanical history: William J. Fisher, the German-American naturalist, marine biologist, and esteemed Smithsonian collector.
Picture, if you will, a man in his fifties, venturing forth to the wild shores of Kodiak, Alaska. A decade hence, our intrepid William found himself enamored not only with the rugged landscape but with a native Alutiiq ("al-yoot-eek") woman, whom he took as his bride. Together, they cultivated a family amidst the untamed beauty of Kodiak.
The Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository in Kodiak paints a vivid portrait of Fisher's legacy:
Fisher collected hundreds of Native artifacts for the Smithsonian during a time when the Native culture was being impacted by Western culture. His assemblage and documentation provides us information today about Alutiiq history at that time.
But it is Fisher's botanical legacy that truly sets the gardener's heart aflutter. Imagine, if you will, poring over the pages of his 1899 field book, now digitally preserved for posterity by the Biodiversity Heritage Library. This tome is nothing short of a modern treasure, meticulously documenting nearly fifty plants utilized by the Alutiiq people.
With a penmanship that would make even the most fastidious scribe envious, Fisher recorded the Russian and Native American nomenclature for each plant, along with their culinary and medicinal applications.
Take, for instance, his entry on the humble cranberry, or "Brussnika" in Russian, "Knich-tat" in Alutiiq:
Mixed with seal or whale oil and salmon spawn for winter's preserves. Very plentiful.
One can almost taste the tart berries, preserved in that most ingenious of methods!
The cover page of Fisher's field book reveals a delightful tidbit: his botanical expedition was shared with a visiting USDA botanist, one Thomas Henry Kearney.
Fisher, with a touch of whimsy, notes:
Notes accompanying collection of useful plants made by W.J. Fisher at Kodiak, in 1899. Dried plants with Mr. Kearney, alcoholics in seed collection.
One can't help but imagine these two gentlemen, traipsing through the Alaskan wilderness, their botanist's cases brimming with specimens, perhaps indulging in a nip of something warming as they catalogued their finds.
As we tend to our own gardens, dear readers, let us pause to consider the legacy of William J. Fisher.
His meticulous documentation of Alutiiq plant lore not only preserves a moment in time but also reminds us of the deep connection between people and the flora that sustains them.
Might we not, in our own small way, strive to document the plants that grace our plots, noting their uses, their habits, and the joy they bring to our lives?
