Biography of James Newton Basket Excerpted from "Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 1911-1912", Edited by Geo. W. Martin, Secretary. Vol XII., State Printing Office, Topeka, Kansas 1912. submitted by Teresa Lindquist (merope@radix.net); (copyright) 2001 by Teresa Lindquist ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KSGENWEB INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In keeping with the KSGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Though a Missourian, Mr. [James Newton] Baskett was born a Kentuckian, in Nicholas county, November 1, 1849, and came to Audrain county, Missouri, when he was eight years old. Here, at Mexico, he has lived most of his life. He was graduated Ph.B. [sic] from the Missouri University in 1872, and subsequently, in acknowledgment of his work, was given the degree of A. M. by his Alma Mater. He began life as a surveyor and engineer, but, incurring pulmonary trouble through field exposure, he went to Colorado in 1879, where, after three years spent in the open in the midst of nature, he recovered. Having been aroused by the many new forms of plant and animal life found west of the plains, be began certain studies, which resulted in his becoming a contributor to various journals in attempts to popularize natural history, and, returning to Missouri in 1881, he drifted into a literary career. In 1896 Dr. William T. Harris, then United States commissioner of education, undertook to edit for the Appletons a home-reading series of books, and asked Mr. Baskett to write the initial volume. The result was "The Story of the Birds." Subsequently "The Story of the Fishes" and the "Story of the Amphibians and Reptiles" followed in the same series, the latter in collaboration with Dr. R. L. Ditmars, then the curator of reptiles in the Bronx Zoological Gardens at New York. Previously, 1893, Mr. Baskett was solicited to read a paper before the World's Congress of Ornithologists, at the Colombian Exposition of Chicago, on "Some Hints of the Kinship of Birds as Shown by Their Eggs." This was then, perhaps, the most extensive review of the topic in America, and attracted the attention of Dr. Elliott Coues, forming the basis of a lasting friendship with that great ornithologist and historian. On his commendation, the Macmillan Company, of New York and London, asked Mr. Baskett to write a nature book, and to thread a light story through it which would hold the reader's interest; but when it was submitted the house informed the author that he had written a novel, and, as such, they would publish it. So Mr. Baskett found himself suddenly in a new realm, as the author of a piece of romance, which he scarcely designed as such. The result was "At You-All's House: A Missouri Nature Story"-a compound of didacticism and sentiment which had the virtues and frailties of its peculiar origin. Its literary success, however, both in America and England, was marked, giving a new name and habitation to the "Show-me" state, and was one of the pioneer books to call attention to the wealth of local interest which may cling about the rural life of the Middle West generally. Subsequently "As the Light Led" came from the same house, the theme based on the denominational debates which were so frequent and acrimonious a fourth of a century or more ago. Later still the W. A. Wilde Company, of Boston, asked for a story similar to "At You-All's House," and Mr. Baskett wrote for them "Sweetbrier and Thistledown," which is in a certain sense a sequel to the former story, but of independent plot. It is a study of the uplifting influences which nature and rural life may have upon the character of n city-reared girl, and has, designedly, at the request of the publishers, much nature study in a popular form woven in with the story. Some years later Mr. Baskett, noting what he thought to be many inconsistencies and errors in the tracing of the routes of the old Spanish explorers of the Southwest, began a detailed and systematic study of these from every point of view which he could obtain, but especially from that of topography. To this end he went over the originals of the narratives, and found that the usual renderings did not always conform to the situations and were sometimes set forth in the light of prejudged conceptions. What is so far the most elaborate and detailed study of the route of Cabeza de Vaca from the eastern Texas Gulf coast to Sonora was published by him in the Historical Quarterly of that state, in the issues of January and April, 1907, with the help and commendation of the then editor, Dr. George P. Garrison, and of the scientific staff of the faculty of the State University. The germ of the article was first presented in an address to the Missouri Historical Society at St. Louis, of which Mr. Baskett is an honorary member. Previous to this he had written a manuscript book on the entire route and various features of the Coronado expedition, from Mexico to Quivira; but failing to interest any publisher in the same, he had thrown it aside. Later, however, he was invited to read a historical paper on a topic of his own choosing before the Mississippi Valley Historical Society, when it met in St. Louis, and he made an address on the theme. "Did Coronado Reach the Missouri?"--claiming that he did not. Subsequent study of this matter convinced him that, with the exception of Hodge and Richey and a few Kansas students, a proper conception of the route from the Rio Grande to Quivira had not even been formed, many historians placing the latter place either north of the Platte or east of the Missouri river. Hence arose the study of the route of Coronado across the plains, to "the end" of which, the explorer says, he never came; and its presentation occurs in the accompanying paper, in which the author has gone into every detail from every point of view which he has been able to command, giving the results of many years of investigation. Mr. Baskett has been connected with various scientific, historical and literary societies of the country, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Ornithologist's Union, Washington Biological Society, National Geographic Society, and many state historical societies. He is a frequent lecturer on the topics of his studies, especially those connected with birds, and he also is a regular contributor to sundry periodicals on various nature topics. His permanent address is Mexico, Mo., though he is now resident in St. Louis.-SECRETARY. (Included with the article "A Study of the Route of Coronado Between the Rio Grande and Missouri Rivers.", page 219)