Sciences / Mammals / Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn Sheep

This 5-part series explains the 100-year-long effort by scientists to decide where the bighorn sheep belonged in the Linnaean system and to get the animal pictured correctly.

    Early Bighorn Specimens

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    In 1800 a Scottish explorer shot several specimens in the Canadian Rockies and brought back hides, heads and horns for study by American and British zoologists, including Dr. George Kearsley Shaw of the British Museum, whose study was published in 1804.

    Observing Bighorn Sheep

    A pictorial essay

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    By telling the story of how these photos and videos were created, the behaviors of the bighorn sheep are described.

    Bighorn Sheep Encounters

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    During a reconnaissance assignment eight miles up the Yellowstone River on 26 April 1805, Joseph Field became the first member of the Corps to glimpse a live bighorn sheep.

    Classifying Bighorn Sheep

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    The first naturalist to publish an honest admission of uncertainty over the respective identities of the wild sheep and goat of North America was John Davidson Godman (1794-1830). Audubon and Bachman contributed illustrations and descriptions.

    Bighorn: Sheep or Goat?

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    We confront the paradox that Elliott Coues pointed out in 1893—that Lewis and Clark had mistaken goats with wool … for sheep, and sheep without wool . . . for ibexes. Succeeding naturalists heightened the misunderstanding with invidious comparisons.

Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail

The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.

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Discover More

  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.