Robert Kennicott

Robert Kennicott (November 13, 1835 - May 13, 1866) was an American naturalist.

Kennicott was born in New Orleans and grew up in Chicago. From 1853 he worked for Spencer Fullerton Baird at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. In April 1859 he set off on a expedition to collect natural history specimens in the boreal forests of Canada and the Arctic tundra beyond. He returned to Washington at the end on 1862.

In 1865 the Western Union Telegraph Expedition was mounted to find a possible route for a telegraph line between North America and Russia by way of the Bering Sea. Kennicott was selected as the scientist for this expedition, and the party of naturalists sent to assist him included W.H. Dall.

The expedition arrived in San Francisco in April, but disagreements between its leaders meant that little was achieved. The party moved north to Vancouver where Kennicott suffered a period of ill health. After his recovery they moved north again to Alaska. Kennicott died of a heart attack whilst travelling up the Yukon River.

Reference

• Audubon to Xanthus: The Lives of Those Commemorated in North American Bird Names - Mearns and Mearns ISBN 0124874231