Uniquely part of the lore of the American frontier is John James Audubon. As a young immigrant from France he combed the woods of Pennsylvania, seeking out the wildlife that abounded there. Later, in 1808, he and his bride, Lucy, moved to Kentucky as pioneers. In traveling the forests, swamps, rivers, and trails of the wilderness with Daniel Boone, trappers, and Indians, this young Frenchman became an expert woodsman and a devoted student of nature.
His special interest was birds, and as he learned the different species and their habits, he began painting them in lifelike poses and situations. Audubon knew that much of the wildlife of the American frontier was gradually being wiped out, and he wanted to preserve what he could for future generations to admire. His deepest wish was "to open the eyes of other men to the beauty and wonder of the world."
There has been a controversy about Audubon's birth and childhood. As a child, he had been told that he was the Lost Dauphin of France, son of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, and the rightful heir to the French throne. All of his life, Audubon apparently believed that this story was true. In the poverty that afflicted him during much of his life, Audubon was frequently tempted to claim the throne.
But the idea of riches and power did not seem to him worthwhile compensation for the life he knew and loved. His decision to remain in obscurity, to live a common life, shows the remarkable degree to which he was a self-made man.
Lucy Audubon encouraged her husband's plan to paint all the birds of America. When his business failed and he became bankrupt, she sacrifices her possessions to pay their debts, and took a job so that he would be free to devote his full energies to his painting. His two sons, when they grew older, also shared the struggle to enable Audubon to fulfill his dreams.
—from the dust jacket
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