Timeline

Key Events In The Life Of David Douglas

1799

Born June 25 at Scone, Perthshire, the son of a stonemason.

1802

Starts at the village school. Subsequently attends Kinnoull School near Perth where he is a less than willing pupil.

1810

Leaves school to be apprenticed as a gardener at Scone Palace. Pursues his botanical interests through walking, climbing and evening study.

1818

Takes up position as under gardener at Valleyfield, Fife, home of Sir Robert Preston.

1820

Appointed to a post at the Botanic Garden, Glasgow, and becomes pupil and friend of Dr William Hooker, Professor of Botany. Attends lectures and botanizes in the Highlands.

1823

On Hooker's recommendation, accepted by the Horticultural Society as a botanical collector.

June: Departs on first botanizing expedition, to northeastern United States and Canada to collect specimens of fruit trees.

1824

January 9: Returns from successful first expedition.

July 25: Departs for the Pacific Northwest of America.

1825

April 7: Arrives at the mouth of the Columbia River to begin serious botanizing along the river and its tributaries. Over-winters at Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver.

1826

End of March: Resumes botanizing, travelling to Grand Rapids, Walla Walla, Kettle Falls, and Spokane and the Upper Columbia River.

September: Travels south up the Willamette and Umpqua Rivers in Oregon in search of the sugar pine.

October 26: Finds the sugar pine. Over-winters at Fort Vancouver.

1827

March 20: Leaves Fort Vancouver to cross continent to Hudson Bay via the Athabasca Pass. En route climbs peaks in the northern Rockies (the first person known to do so) and meets Thomas Drummond, fellow Scot and plant-collector.

August 28: Arrives at York Factory on Hudson Bay and sails for London.

October 11: Arrives in London and is welcomed as a celebrity by the Horticultural Society. Awarded fellowships of the Geological, Linnean and Zoological Societies.

1828

Remains in London, becoming frustrated with the Horticultural Society, but tending specimens from his own collections in the Society's gardens.

1829

October 31: Leaves England to return to the Pacific North West, travelling via Hawaii.

1830

June 3: Arrives at the Columbia River and resumes botanizing, sending back seeds of the noble and grand firs.

December: Travels to California. Douglas spent 30 months in California. Did he travel north of present-day San Francisco to the Russian settlement at Ft. Ross? Without the journal, we'll never know for sure. Visit California Fort Ross State Historical Park

1831

Botanizes around Monterey and tours Franciscan missions south to Santa Barbara and north to San Francisco. Visits the coast redwood forests. Do archival records exist of David Douglas staying at the missions? Contact us if you have any information.