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About the Friends |
"A wild garden is beautiful in all seasons" (Eloise Butler) |
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| From Maine to Minnesota | ||
She was born in rural Maine, near Appleton, on August 3, 1851. An interest in botany may have been aroused at an early age by her family's herbal remedies, made at home from their knowledge of local plants. After high school graduation in 1870, she took a position as a teacher in West Appleton, Maine, near the Butler farm, but soon she was enrolled in a Teachers College, the Eastern State Normal School in Castine, Maine, from which she graduated in 1873. After graduation she moved with her parents to Indiana where other relatives were already established. That resettlement was not to last long for her, for in September 1874 we find her in Minneapolis. Here she began a long teaching career, principally in Botany, that was to last until retirement in 1911. During those years in Minneapolis, she pursued her interest in botany by attending classes at the University of Minnesota, collecting, editing and working for certain professors, botany trips to Jamaica, Woods Hole, and the University's new research station on Vancouver Island. |
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fig. 1 Eloise Butler ca. 1890. Photo: Branche’s Studio, Minnesota Historical Society. |
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| Origins of the Wildflower Garden | ||
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As early as the 1880s observant people realized that the development of the city of Minneapolis was incompatible with the retention of native habitat. West of the city in the Saratoga Springs Addition, residents successfully petitioned the new Minneapolis Park Board to obtain a segment of that area to preserve for future generations. With various name changes and adjustments in size, this became what is now Theodore Wirth Park. A small section of this new park was particularly attractive to Eloise and her teacher colleagues. They were having great difficulties familiarizing their students with plants growing in their natural surroundings, as development was wiping out these areas. This spot would be accessible and attractive for that purpose. As the Park Board had done little with the entire park due to lack of funds, this small group decided that something must be done to protect the unique native flora of the small area they had selected. That area included a swampy bog, fern glens, hillsides, upland hills and trees and nearby, the Great Medicine Spring. In 1907 the Park Board was moved to set aside a portion of this area as a Natural Botanical Garden but soon it was known as the Wild Botanic Garden (as the partially visible sign in fig. 2 states). Eloise became the most prominent guardian and promoter of this natural space. After 1909, she spent each growing season in the Garden and took up lodging nearby at the J. W. Babcock house at 227 Xerxes Avenue. In the fall, the garden closed on September 30th and each year Eloise returned East to Malden, Mass. to stay with her sister Cora. |
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| fig. 2. Eloise (on the left) with an unknown visitor, just outside the newly constructed curator's office, ca. 1915-20. Photo courtesy Minneapolis Public Library, Minneapolis Collection M2632H |
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| A document from the archives of the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, titled "Our Native Plant Reserve" gives more detail on the origins of the Garden. Most of the detail in this short history appears to be taken from the notes of Eloise Butler that are preserved in her written document "Annals of the Wild Life Reserve." | ||
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In fig. 4 at the left we see Eloise, well dressed as usual, ca. 1921 by which time the Garden was well established.
Eloise Butler's governing idea for design of the Garden was as follows: “My wild garden is run on the political principle of laissez-faire. A paramount idea is to perpetuate in the garden it's primeval wildness. All artificial appearances are avoided and plants are to be allowed to grow as they will and without any check except what may be necessary for healthful living.”
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The Garden was not completely fenced in until 1924, (details) a necessary step to keep out interlopers, "spooners", and destructive animals, such as the neighboring hog. Today the hog has moved well away but the white tail deer have moved in and it requires consistent fence maintenance to keep them out. Natural calamities affect the garden as well. In fig 5 at right we see Eloise near a stand of birches, many of which were lost in a destructive tornado of June 2nd 1925. In more recent years the loss of many oaks to oak wilt has left some areas without the tree canopy that sustained the habitat beneath, resulting in an evolvement of what the Garden looks like. |
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| Back to top of page | Fig. 5 Eloise Butler, ca 1910-20 at birch tree grove. Photo courtesy Minneapolis Public Library, Minneapolis Collection, M2632B |
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| fig. 6. A gathering of friends on her 80th birthday, August 3, 1931. From l to r: Miss Alma Johnson, frequenter of the Garden; Mrs John Hadden, a former pupil; Mrs. J. W. Babcock, in whose house Eloise lodged while in Minneapolis; Miss Clara K. Leavitt, fellow teacher; Eloise; Dr. W. H. Crone (behind Eloise); Miss Elizabeth Foss, botany teacher at North H.S.; Miss Mary K. Meeker, former pupil; Mrs. O. F. Schussler, former pupil; Mrs Crone (Martha); Mrs. Louisa Healy, former pupil. Photo: Minnesota Historical Society, Martha Crone Papers. Back to top of page. | ||
| The Last Major Project | ||
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In fig. 7 at the left, we see Eloise crossing the rustic bridge at the head of the Mallard Pool. The year is 1932. She has physically weakened due in part to neuritis and from burns received in 1929 when a heating pad caught fire while she was sleeping. Her doctors advised her that the burns would always be covered with scar tissue, not true skin, so they would always be somewhat uncomfortable. The development of this pool was long on gestation and short on actual building. She had dreamed for many years of creating an aquatic pool for special plants and the site at the north end of the Garden where the bog drains out was the best site in the Garden, but she could not move the idea to reality until 1932 when the pool was quickly constructed by an unemployed man and another was employed to build a rustic bridge of tamarack poles to span the small stream the flowed into the pool. When a mallard was soon seen in it, it became the “mallard pool.” The pool was renovated some years ago and is under consideration for restoration again today, as the progress of time and changes in the environment have worked their ways on the area. Eloise had planned extensive plantings around the pool and these were completed by Martha Crone in 1933. |
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fig. 7. Eloise Butler on the bridge at the Mallard Pool. Photo Minnesota Historical Society MH5.9 MP4.1 r354 |
For a longer description of the Mallard Pool story, you will find Eloise’s complete report reprinted in The Wild Gardener by Martha Hellander. | |
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| The End of a Long Career | ||
1932 was Eloise’s last full year as curator. Shortly after the new season of 1933 began, Eloise was back in the Garden doing what she could in her failing health. On the misty morning of April 10, 1933 she went down to the Garden from her lodgings at the J. W. Babcock's house (located just east of the Garden at 227 Xerxes Ave. So.). She apparently suffered a heart attack and made her way back to Babcocks (possibly with some help). A doctor was summoned but nothing could be done and she soon passed away on the couch in the entryway of the house. On May 5th, her ashes were scattered in the Garden as had been her wish. |
“Each day, clear, cloudy, or stormy, and each season has its charm, if our eyes are opened to see it." Eloise Butler |
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It is not unusual that the accomplishments of an individual are more clearly understood after that person has passed on. While certain people are "in-the-know" about what an individual is accomplishing, it is only after death, when congratulations are too late that the rest of world becomes aware of the qualities of the individual whose life is now past. Theodore Wirth, Superintendent of the Minneapolis Park System, was probably the first to craft a brief but informative statement about the role Eloise Butler had taken on and played with such accomplishment. His letter of April 19, 1933, addressed to the Board of Park Commissioners informs them of her death and of her accomplishments. The letter announces the date for the remembrance ceremony to be held May 5th and also got the ball rolling on the commemorative tablet that was placed one year later. back to top of page. |
"For a full quarter of a century, her useful life has been spent in a labor of love..." Theodore Wirth, Superintendent.
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The Remembrance Ceremony for Eloise Butler was held at 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon on May 5, 1933 in the Wildflower Garden. About 100 people attended. Mr. A. F. Pillsbury, President of the Minneapolis Park Board, officiated. At this ceremony, a Pin Oak tree was planted in her honor and her ashes were scattered within the area, as had been her wish. (The Pin Oak is difficult to establish there and was subsequently replaced with another.)
Use this link to see the full report of the Ceremony. May 5, 1933 Remembrance Ceremony. |
Dust we are, and now to dust again From Martha Crone's Notebook, Martha Crone Collection, Minnesota Historical Society |
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| Notes on the Curator's Office and Shelter | |
 In fig. 8 at the left we see a more complete view of the original curator’s office. This building, located on a flat plateau in the woodland part of the Garden was first erected in 1912. It served as office, tool room, visitor center and for everything else. Prior to that date there was no shelter in the developing Garden. The year of this photo is 1935. You will notice the small sign visible to the left of the door - it reads “Office of the Curator - Wild Botanic Garden,” even though that name had been discarded for some years prior. The Garden was officially renamed the “Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden” in 1929 and in 1968 at the request of The Friends of the Wild Flower Garden, it became the "Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary." |
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| fig. 8 above. The “Office” at the Garden, ca. 1935. Original building from 1912. Click on the photo for a larger image. The man seated at the right is sitting on the boulder bearing the memorial plaque to Eloise Butler that was dedicated in May, 1934. The men on the left are sitting on wooden "settees" that were replaced in 1960 by Kasota Limestone benches with a dedication to Clinton Odell. For more photos of both the old office and the new Martha Crone Shelter see "The Old Office Replaced". Photo Minnesota Historical Society, MH5.9 MP4.1 r356 |
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 That old useful structure, becoming more rustic as each year passed, was finally replaced in 1969-70 with the current Martha Crone Shelter (fig. 9 at right), when the Friends of the Wild Flower Garden took on the major challenge of having a new structure designed and built. With much more room for the Garden Curator and naturalist staff, display areas, a fireplace and attic storage, this building still serves well today. The Garden Curator’s tool room has long since been relocated to a storage building/work room at the top of hill above the shelter and near to the front gate. |
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| fig. 9. The Martha Crone Shelter which replaced the old "office" Click on photo for a larger image. Photo © 2007 Friends of the Wild Flower Garden |
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Eloise Butler Biography Available. For a complete biography of Eloise Butler please see the book The Wild Gardener by Martha Hellendar. This book is available by mail order from The Friends of the Wild Flower Garden. Use the "Web Store" link in the navigation bar at the left to see a description of the book and to access an order form. |
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Here are some links to other sites with information on Eloise Butler. The first link takes you to the Minnesota Historical Society where there is a short biography of Eloise Butler, Martha Crone and also a complete inventory of documents that the Historical Society has in it's collection on Eloise and the Wildflower Garden. |
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This next link goes to the Minneapolis Park Board web site where there is a chronology of Garden milestones up to the present day. |
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© 2008 - 2009 Friends of the Wild Flower Garden, Inc. |
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