author

Katherine Chandler

1865–1930

Remembered as "The Wildflower Lady of California," this early 20th-century writer brought plants, folklore, and Western history to life for young readers. Her books range from nature writing about California wildflowers to retellings of Native stories and the story of Sacagawea.

1 Audiobook

The Bird-Woman of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Bird-Woman of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

by Katherine Chandler

About the author

Born in San Francisco in May 1865, Katherine Agnes Chandler was an American botanist, writer, and librarian. She became known for making the natural world approachable, especially through books written for schoolchildren and other general readers.

Her best-known works include Habits of California Plants (1903), In the Reign of Coyote (1905), The Bird-Woman of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1905), and As California wild flowers grow (1922). Alongside her writing, she was involved in California cultural and botanical work, including helping carry out the Garden of Shakespearean Flowers in Golden Gate Park.

Chandler also spent part of her career in hospitality, owning the Deer Park Springs Hotel near Lake Tahoe after 1905. She died on June 24, 1930, in Los Gatos, California. No suitable verified portrait image could be confirmed from the sources reviewed, so no profile image is included.