David Douglas
Work Lost in TIme
It was on this day in 1833 David Douglas' luck ran out.
On the Rocky Island of the Fraser River at Fort George Canyon, Douglas's canoe was smashed into bits and Douglas himself barely escaped alive.
All of Douglas's work: his specimens and all of his writings - covering the years from 1829 to 1833 - were lost to time.
Before losing all of his work, in the spring of that year, Douglas had written a friend:
"We can be carried into regions where we contemplate the most glorious workmanship of nature and where the dullest imagination becomes excited."
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David Douglas
