Ernest Thompson Seton

Born Aug. 14, 1860, in South Shields, England; died Oct. 23, 1946, in Santa Fe, N.M. Canadian writer, animal painter, and naturalist.

Seton graduated from the Ontario College of Arts in 1879. For many years he lived in backwoods and prairie areas. He wrote about 40 books, mainly about animals, which he illustrated with accurate and skillful drawings. Several of his books were devoted to the life and folklore of Indians and Eskimos.

Seton’s first work was “Life of the Prairie Chicken” (1883). He won fame with Wild Animals I Have Known (1898), Lives of the Hunted (1901), and the eight-volume Lives of Game Animals (1925–27). He also published The Biography of a Grizzly (1900), The Birchbark Roll (1906), and Woodcraft and Indian Lore (1912). Seton’s books, which combine scientific accuracy with entertaining narration, have influenced many animal writers.