John Kirk Townsend was a physician and only twenty-four years old when he began his journey with Wyeth's men across the continent. He had been recommended by Thomas Nuttall, who had been impressed with Townsend's abilities as a naturalist. Townsend's specialty was birds; Nuttall's was plants; but each man would discover and describe animal and plant species.

Nuttall was already a seasoned adventurer who had traveled extensively through the American wilderness. His unrelenting joy in his work as a naturalist had earned him the nickname "the fool" during an earlier expedition.

Neither Townsend nor Nuttall is fleshed out as a full character. Their personalities are scarcely touched on, and most of their likes and dislikes are left undescribed. Likewise, their family and social backgrounds are by and large left dark. Although Townsend is frequently quoted, the.quotations say little about him. What is emphasized...