Francis Buzzacott
Illustration of Buzzacott hunting grizzly bear, from his eponymous Masterpiece.
Birth name	Francis H Buzzacott
Born	1861 United States of America
Died	1947 Chicago, Illinois
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Service years	1879 (British Army), 1885-98 (US Army)
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Zulu War Spanish–American War Philippine–American War

Francis Henry Buzzacott (1861-1947) was an American hunter, conservationist, army scout, and explorer famous for writing the Hunter's and Trapper's Complete Guide and the Complete American and Canadian Sportsman's Encyclopedia, better known today as Buzzacott's Masterpiece.

Career

During the Indian Wars of the 1870s, Buzzacott worked as a guide, trapper and frontiersman in the American West. In between expeditions, he found employment as a seal hunter, sailor on a whaleboat, and commercial fisherman. Later in life he became interested in human sexuality, and published a scientific study of bisexuality and human hermaphrodites in 1914.^[1]

Expeditions

As an explorer and guide with over 40 years' experience, Buzzacott participated in many expeditions during the late Victorian era. These included the British South African Expedition of 1879, Jeannette expedition of 1879–81, Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881–84, and the Walter Wellman Polar Expedition of 1906. He was also a member of the American Geological Society, National Rifle Association, and the National Geographic Association.^[2]

Military service

From 1885 to 1898, Buzzacott enlisted in the American army as a scout. He saw action in the Spanish-American War and Philippine–American War. He became a supporter of the temperance movement after witnessing the effects of excessive alcohol consumption on his fellow soldiers. During the 1890s he invented a portable bread oven for the US Army.^[3] After leaving the army he was involved with the early Boy Scout movement in America.^[4][5]

Publications

Book frontispiece from Buzzacott's Complete American and Canadian Sportsmans Encyclopedia of Valuable instruction, with photograph of the author in 1913.

• Hunter's and Trapper's Complete Guide, 1903
• Complete Fisherman's and Angler's Manual, 1903^[6]
• Complete American and Canadian Sportsmans Encyclopedia of Valuable instruction, 1905^[7]
• Totem Club Boys' Handbook, 1912
• Buzzacott's Masterpiece, 1913^[8]
• Mystery of the Sexes, 1913
• Bisexual Man, or Evolution of the Sexes, 1914
• Lost Arts of the Sportsman, reprinted 2013^[9]

References