Frank Craighead, Jr. & john craighead, ’35

Wildlife Experts and Researchers

Frank Cooper Craighead Jr. (August 14, 1916 – October 21, 2001) and John Johnson Craighead (August 14, 1916 – September 18, 2016), twin brothers, were American conservationists, naturalists, and researchers who made important contributions to the studies of falconry and grizzly bear biology. The brothers were born in Washington, D.C., where both graduated from Western High School in 1935. The brothers began collecting and identifying animals and plants they found alongside the Potomac and soon expanded their interests to birds and hawks.

At age 20, the brothers wrote their first article for National Geographic Society, published in the July 1937 issue, Adventures with Birds of Prey. Between 1937 and 1976, they wrote a total of 14 articles for the magazine. During World War II, R. S. Dharmakumarsinhji, an Indian prince living in Bhavnagar who was impressed by the Craigheads’ articles invited the brothers to visit India. There, they learned about Indian ways of life and documented falconry in India. The brothers returned home in 1942, as they missed home and their falconry studies in America. They also became deeply opposed to killing animals after participating in Indian hunts during their stay. In America, the brothers continued survival training until 1950. In the 1940s, both brothers received two degrees from the University of Michigan: their Masters of Science degrees, as well as their Ph.D.s in wildlife management, in 1949. They wrote their dissertations on raptors. The dissertation was titled “Hawks, Owls and Wildlife.” During this time, they researched wildlife in Wyoming and Montana, writing Cloud Gardens in the Tetons in 1948 and Wildlife Adventuring in Jackson Hole in 1956.

In 1959 their careers merged again, this time to begin a 12-year study of grizzly bears in Yellowstone since the animals were considered threatened by increased human activity. However, a 1971 disagreement with the National Park Service ended their Yellowstone studies. Fortunately, their work continued elsewhere in Montana, including the Scapegoat Wilderness. After 1976, their work was mostly confined to field guides and educating the public about environmentalism. Their work in field ecology continued until Frank’s death in 2001 from Parkinson’s disease.

In 1998, the National Audubon Society named the brothers among the top 100 conservationists of the 20th century. John won the Wildlife Society’s Aldo Leopold Memorial Award in the same year.

Frank’s health deteriorated due to Parkinson’s disease he had been diagnosed with in 1987, and he died in 2001 at the age of 85. The Craighead institute has offices in both Bozeman and Moose and is run by Frank’s son Lance. Frank’s papers are now held by the library at Montana State University.

John Craighead lived in Missoula, Montana. He turned 100 in August 2016. He died in South Missoula a little over a month later, on September 18, 2016.

Citation: Wikipedia contributors. (2024, May 31). Frank and John Craighead. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:54, June 26, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_and_John_Craighead