|
 Our
yards and indeed the high plains look much better thanks to one man: Gene
Howard. Gene was the only person to ever graduate with a Horticulture degree
from the University of Wyoming. For 33 1/2 years Gene worked at the
USDA
High Plains Horticulture Station located west of town. He also served as its
director. Gene’s work was primarily that of a plant breeder where he
introduced and assisted with the introduction of many important hardy trees,
shrubs, flowers as well as fruits and vegetable selections. It was thought that
if a plant selection survived at Cheyenne Station (now known as a Grasslands
research station), it would survive anywhere. Besides being a great plantsman,
Gene had a passion for teaching. Most everyone Gene met ended up learning
something interesting about the plant world.
Botanic Gardens Director, Shane Smith, says of Gene, “I
can’t even begin to tell you how much that man taught me. I used to joke with
Gene telling him that he had probably forgot more about horticulture than most
horticulturists have ever learned. Above all, he was a great teacher and we’ll
miss him around here.”
Gene Howard was born in 1915 in Moorewood, Oklahoma. He
graduated from South West Oklahoma State University in May of 1937 and left for
Cheyenne two weeks later. He arrived in Cheyenne with 9 dollars in his pocket.
After a few weeks of “short rations,” he got a job at
the Frontier Refinery. He spent the war years in what he considered an “essential
industry,” as a unit operator. He wrote: “It was a tough life.” After
the War ended he went to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He landed
a 3 1/2 year assignment at an Agriculture Station as a technician in Mandan,
North Dakota.
In 1951 Gene returned to Cheyenne to work at the Cheyenne
Horticulture Field Station. In the following ten years he was able to learn much
of plant science and horticulture. During his off hours he pursued a Master of
Science degree at CSU and the University of Wyoming. He graduated in 1961 and in
1964 became Station Superintendent, a position he held until 1976. The Howard
family lived on the station grounds for 26 years. He noted that it was an ideal
place for his two children to grow up and mature.
Under Gene’s direction the Station became a noted garden
showplace of Cheyenne. The roads to the greenhouses were lined with flowers and
plants pruned to perfection. His son Steve remembers that as a youngster he was
not allowed to leave his bike out on the front lawn due to the many visitors who
came to view the beauty of the station.
Gene’s research at the station included the evaluation
and publication of results of horticultural planting made in the 1930’s and
1940’s. He worked on windbreaks, hardy tree fruits, small fruits, and
ornamentals of all kinds. He also worked with ornamental trees, shrubs,
perennials, and annual flowers.
Gene was a professional scientist for only 15 years, yet
he had produced numerous publications and over 80 different plant introductions,
many of which are now standards in the Northern plains. He was instrumental in
developing the Cheyenne mums, the everbearing Fort Laramie strawberry,
greenhouse carnations the new wood fruiting raspberries known as Trailblazer,
Pathfinder and Plainsman and many more plant introductions. Gene often
helped out in the lab and was as adept at genetics as most professional
geneticists.
Upon completing his breeding work he was required to get
rid of the plants and was prohibited by the USDA from selling or giving them
away. His wife Joan remembers one incident prior to marrying Gene
when she was the President of the Garden Club and received a phone call from
him. Gene suggested that she visit a nearby ditch. There she happened to find a
wonderful selection of various hardy mum plants with which Gene had just
completed working. She “rescued” the plants from the ditch and shared them
with the gardening community. Gene had a clear conscience and the gardens of
Cheyenne benefited.
In 1972 the USDA station changed its orientation to work
with grasslands, livestock, soil and water research. Gene worked over a three
state area in reclamation and re-vegetaion of disturbed lands. Even with the
change in focus at the station, he still found time to purse his first love of
horticulture. He continued to work on a number of crops after 1972 both at the
station and even after retirement on his grounds and greenhouse at his home
north of Cheyenne.
Gene was a person admired for his knowledge, his wisdom,
his willingness to share his opinions, and his undying interest in life. Gene’s
final paragraph to his autobiographical notes perhaps says it best.
“The rest
of my story is simple. Live and let live, and share my knowledge with others.
Propagate plants to give away. I never sell anything. Help where I can. Be free
and obligated to no one. I tried to make a difference.”
The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens has
established a memorial fund in honor of Gene Howard. Contributions to this
fund will be applied towards covering the cost of a sculpture of Gene. This sculpture
has be
placed on the grounds of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. For more
information or to make a contribution towards this fund please call
307-637-6458 (ask for our Development Director) or write to us at
info@botanic.org |
