HISTORY MINUTE

Science is about inquiry. Observation is the tool used to find out answers, from the stars above to the rocks under our feet. And one prominent scientist, David Owen, helped Arkansas understand its own geology as the first state geologist in 1857.

David Dale Owen was born in Scotland in 1807, the fourth of eight children. Growing up, he was mostly taught by private tutors. His father, Robert Owen, was a wealthy textile manufacturer, social reformer, and noted philanthropist. His reputation grew when he gave his mill in Scotland to his workers, letting them manage the mill and divide its profits among themselves. Impressed by the results, Owen set up other worker-owned mills across Scotland and eventually into the United States.

In the late 1820s, Owen’s father took the family on a journey to the United States to set up another employee-owned mill at New Harmony, Indiana. He arrived with his family in New York City in January 1828. At that time, there were no laws restricting immigration into the United States. Citizenship simply required a residency of five years. Any man could step off the boat and immediately become one of the most successful people in their field in the young nation. And within a few years, the Scottish immigrant would become one of the most important scientific minds in the country.

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