Heinrich Balduin Mollhausen

Heinrich Mollhausen served as the topographical artist, naturalist, and draftsman documenting geography and geology, and collecting local flora and fauna, during the 1853-54 Whipple exploration of possible 35th parallel railroad routes. His observations are detailed in the 1858 work, Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific. His accounts provide a scientific baseline for the landscape of the Canadian River and Texas Panhandle, reporting on riparian woodlands, bison, antelope, birds (such as the crested caracara), water sources, and fire cycles, as they were before extensive development. Mollhausen later settled in Germany, and went on to write 40 novels and 80 shorter works, blending his first-hand experiences with adventure fiction, popularizing views of Texas and the American West.