Character
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J. Sterling
Morton
1832-1902 |
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| Brief personal history |
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Sterling Morton was born in
Adams, New York, the son of a prosperous produce
commission businessman. He attended the University
of Michigan but received his B.A. from Union College in
Schenectady, New York. He married Carolina Joy
French in 1854 and moved to Nebraska City to start the Nebraska
City News. He served as secretary of the
Nebraska territory and acting governor. He was an
uncompromising conservative Democrat from a section of
the country that was more comfortable with Republican
radicals. When he ran for Congress, he lost the
election.
Turning his attention from politics to his quarter
section of tall grass Nebraska prairie, Morton
experimented with tree planting, evaluating the best
forest and fruit trees for the climate. Morton believed
the Nebraska prairie would benefit from trees because
they would provide lumber, fruit, windbreaks and soil
moisture. In 1872, he presented a resolution
to the State Board of Agriculture recommending that the
10th day of April be "set apart and consecrated for
tree planting" in the state. The state
proclaimed Arbor Day which Morton dubbed "the
battle against the treeless prairies." The first
Arbor Day proved unexpectedly popular and well over a
million trees were planted.
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| Essence of Environmental Opinion/Activity: |
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"Other holidays repose
upon the past; Arbor Day proposes for the
future." Morton's legacy is in the area
of agriculture, where he was one of the earliest
conservationists, even before the term was known.
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| Publications/Accomplishments
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Newspaper Editor (1854)
Secretary of Nebraska Territory (1858)
Acting Governor of Nebraska(1860)
Put forth Arbor Day resolution (1872)
Secretary of Agriculture under Cleveland (1883)
President of the American Forestry Association
Fallacies of the Free Silver Arguments (1885)
Illustrated History of Nebraska (Editor) |
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| Spirit
of the Times |
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Post Civil War
Westward Expansion |
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| Technological revolutions |
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Train transportation, telegraph, photography
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| Condition of the air, water, soil and
biodiversity |
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The tall grass Nebraska
prairie was newly empty of buffalo but otherwise a
thriving ecosystem of deep soil, rich diversity,
and clean water. |
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