Biography

American botanist and Major General of the United States Army. Frederick Funston undertook major collecting expeditions to Alaska and Death Valley and is remembered for his success as Colonel in the Philippine-American War, after which he captured the leader of the insurgents, Emilio Aguinaldo. Born in New Carlisle, Ohio, he grew up in Allen County, Kansas, and graduated from Iola High School in 1882. He studied at the University of Kansas from 1885 until 1890 and here became interested in natural history, taking part in several field trips. Funston began a journalistic career, first working as a reporter for a newspaper in Fort Scott and later for the Kansas City Journal, as well as working for the Santa Fe railroad.

During this period Funston undertook several expeditions as a special botanical agent of the United States Agricultural Department. In 1890 he visited the Badlands of Dakota and Montana and the following year spent nine months in Death Valley, gathering many plant specimens and narrowly avoiding death by thirst. In 1893 he travelled north on an expedition to Alaska where he lived with the Tlingit people and reached all the way to the Arctic Ocean, further than any westerner had ever gone. Journeying to the Yukon Territory, Funston traversed the coast range and travelled many hundreds of miles during the winter months with various indigenous groups. In the spring he even made a raft and floated down the Yukon River, gathering specimens along the way, before returning to San Francisco.

Funston's military career began after an investigatory trip to Mexico (where he also collected plants), where he hoped to invest in coffee plantations. In New York, where he was soliciting funds for the project, he was persuaded to join up and fight for the Cuban junta. Funded by Harper's Weekly as a correspondent, he embarked in 1896 and was soon placed in command of artillery east of Havana. After taking part in 20 engagements (and surviving a gunshot which passed through one of his arm and both lungs) he was named Lieutenant Colonel. According to a relative, he once avoided being shot as an insurgent by lying about his identity and swallowing his passport! The following year Funston returned to the USA, with a broken leg after his horse had fallen on it, and was married to Eda Blankard.

Soon afterwards war was declared with Spain and Funston immediately volunteered once more, being sent to the Philippines as Colonel of the Twentieth Kansas Infantry. Leading his regiment to numerous victories he was placed in command of the district of Luzon after the war and at this time captured Aguinaldo. Criticised by some for the unethical methods he used in this capture (during which he posed as a spy) Funston was nonetheless named Brigadier General in 1901, the youngest Brigadier at the time. Back in the United States he was given command over various departments and was based in California in 1906 when the great earthquake devastated the city of San Francisco. Funston organised troops to destroy buildings in the path of the fire, setting up relief stations and preventing looting. For this he became a national hero.

After serving as Commandant of the Army Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (1908-1910), Funston returned to Luzon as military head. In 1913-1914 he was named commander of the Hawaii department which was experiencing considerable tension and was finally moved to the Mexican border in an attempt to preserve the peace there. In 1914 he was finally named Major General and the following year given command over almost the entire Mexican border. In preparation for US involvement in the First World War, President Woodrow Wilson and the Secretary of War decided that Funston would be the perfect candidate to command the Allied Expeditionary Force to France. This, however, would never come to pass as Funston died suddenly at the age of 51 at his headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. He left behind his wife and three children and was responsible for publishing several popular works on his experiences and adventures, particularly in Cuba and the Philippines.

Sources:
Frederick N. Funston’s service record compiled in 1903 by the Adjutant General’s Office, Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco:
http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906/funston.html, accessed 3rd June 2011
Frederick Funston, The Robinson Library:
http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/america/unitedstates/1865/biography/funston.htm, accessed 3rd June 2011
Frederick Funston Papers, Kansas Historical Society:
http://www.kshs.org/p/frederick-funston-papers/14027, accessed 3rd June 2011.