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"Francois AndrŽ Michaux, 1770 - 1855

Botany; exploration; forestry

"F. A. Michaux was born in Versailles, France. In 1801, he was commissioned by the Minister of the Interior to study the forests of America. He arrived in Charleston, South Carolina in October 1801 on the ship John and Francis. From Charleston, he took a packet boat that at that time regularly coasted from Charleston to the cities of the North. From New York, Michaux traveled by coach to Philadelphia, Lancaster and Shippensburg where the coach made its final stop before returning north. The trip from Shippensburg to Pittsburgh was made on horseback and on foot. In 1802 the town of Pittsburgh was composed of some four hundred mostly brick residences. Their site, according to Michaux, "affords the most pleasing view produced by the perspective of the rivers, overshadowed with forests, and especially the Ohio, which flows in a straight line, and, to appearance loses itself in space." The result of his observations from these travels through North America was the compilation of Histoire des arbres forestiers de l'Amerique du Nord , of which an English translation North American Silva also appeared. It is only one of his many publications. F. A. Michaux is recognized for his early advocacy of the need of forest conservation and forest management."

Archives of the Hunt Institute at Carnegie Mellon University

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