Joseph Basil Girard

Joseph Basil Girard (December 26, 1846 – August 25, 1918) was a U.S. Army surgeon and frontier artist who painted many landscape watercolors, some of which are now held in the collection of the Huntington Museum.[1][2]

Oury House in Tucson, Arizona watercolor by Joseph Basil Girard (Huntington Museum of Art)

Biography

Girard was born at Courpière, Puy-de-Dôme, France. He graduated from University of Michigan Medical School and was an assistant surgeon beginning in about 1867[3] "at various Western posts and in Hawaii and the Philippines."[4]

Girard was stationed in Wyoming Territory from 1867 to 1872 and according to a Wyoming historical journal, "In the 1870s he did pencil sketches of Forts D. A. Russell, Fetterman, Sanders and Fred Steele, all in what was then the territory of Wyoming. Girard later made watercolors from these sketches...Although more talented technically than the military picture-makers already mentioned, Girard cannot be considered the best of his kind to work in the state. That honor should probably go to Philippe Régis De Trobriand."[5]

In 1872 he was transferred to Fort McDowell in Arizona Territory and per a feature article on Girard in Arizona Highways magazine, "Girard's responsibilities seem to us today like a collection of often unrelated assignments. He was expected to deliver babies, record outside temperatures, extract arrows, set broken bones, treat bullet wounds (many accidentally inflicted), maintain comprehensive sickness records, and while administering the only medical facilities in central Arizona, also find time to document the area's indigenous plants, animals, and birds."[1] His botanic collections at Western posts where he was stationed in Arizona were considered notable early contributions to the scientific study of those places.[6][7] Girard was with General George Crook in the Apache Wars in 1873,[8] stationed at Fort Apache in 1874,[9] "and for nine years saw almost continuous service in Indian warfare."[8] He also reported on the ecosystem of the canyon in which the fort was situated, reporting the presence of wild turkeys.[1] Transferred to Tucson in 1874, he married Louise Oury, daughter of then-Pima County sheriff Granville Henderson Oury.[1]

He was promoted to major and surgeon in 1888, lieutenant-colonel and deputy surgeon-general in 1901, and colonel and assistant surgeon-general in 1902.[8] He was appointed Chief Surgeon for the military Department of the Philippines from 1904 to 1906 and Chief Surgeon of the Department of Texas from 1907 to 1910.[6] Many of Girard's watercolors were painted during this era based on sketches made during his earlier postings.[1] He retired in 1910, on attaining the age of 64 years.[8]

He retired to San Antonio, Texas[10] and died of natural causes in 1918.[11] He is buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Missouri.[12]

References
  1. Schreier, J. (March 1990). "Army doctor and frontier artist Joseph B. Girard". Arizona Highways. Vol. 66, no. 3. pp. 42–45.
  2. "Works – Joseph Basil Girard – People – THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY, ART MUSEUM, AND BOTANICAL GARDENS". emuseum.huntington.org. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  3. "Civil War surgeon images 7". www.medicalantiques.com. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  4. Langellier, John. "Valiant Surgeons in Army Blue". True West Magazine. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  5. Wyoming State Historical Society (1976). A Centennial History of Artist Activities in Wyoming, 1837–1937 by James H. Nottage, Annals of Wyoming. University of Wyoming - UW Libraries & UW American Heritage Center. Wyoming State Historical Society.
  6. McVaugh, Rogers (April 1978). "Joseph Basil Girard, an Early Botanical Collector in Arizona". Brittonia. 30 (2): 131–133. doi:10.2307/2806639. JSTOR 2806639. S2CID 6713566.
  7. Girard, J. B. (1873). "Correspondence : Girard (Joseph) and Engelmann (George), 1873-1874". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Peter H. Raven Library Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  8. American Medical Association (October–December 1918). "Deaths". Journal of the American Medical Association. 71: 1157. ISSN 0002-9955 – via HathiTrust.
  9. "Bonhams : PACIFIC RAILROAD SURVEY. Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.... Washington Beverley Tucker, Thomas F. Ford, and A.O.P. Nicholson, 1855-1860". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  10. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3ZP-218  : 27 March 2023), Joe Basil Girard, 1918.
  11. University of Michigan (March 1920). "Death notices: supplementary to General catalogue of officers and students, 1837–1911. (OCTOBER, 1918 – AUGUST, 1919)". Death Notices. University Bulletin. XXI (30): 8.
  12. "Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery - Surnames G - St. Louis, Missouri". www.interment.net. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
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