An Abundant Arboretum

The Early Years of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Text by Sylvia Lee, BTA Historian

Now that the Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA) is entering a new phase of its life in being an independent entity once again, it seems fitting to talk about the history of the institution. As the docent historian and author of "An Abundant Arboretum," a book of the history of BTA from pre-inception through 1976, I thought I would write about the fascinating early years in this column.

The founder was a self-made millionaire by the name of William Boyce Thompson. The arboretum, however, was not named for the founder but in honor of his parents. “Boyce” was his mother’s surname and “Thompson” was, of course, his father’s. It just so happened that his parents had stuck “Boyce” in as young Will’s middle name and thus, these days, people often think the name of the founder was “Boyce Thompson,” but it wasn’t.

Young Will was born May 13, 1869, in a copper mining area of northern Montana. His father was also named William, which adds to the confusion when reading archives. Mr. Thompson eventually owned lumberyards in the vicinity of several paying mines and young Will grew up learning about mining and miners. The miners also taught Will how to play poker expertly, a skill which aided him in several ways in later years.

Will was not interested in the studies as presented in the country schools. He often skipped school and wandered the countryside while mulling over existential questions. "What makes plants grow?” “How did stars form in the sky?” For Will, these were not idle thoughts, they were questions that could, and should be answered by scientists.

At age 18, he entered a college-preparatory high school, and a year-and-a-half later matriculated to Columbia University where he studied mining engineering for one year. He decided, however, that his interests lay in the financial aspects of mining and cut his formal education short. He never acquired a high school diploma nor a college degree.

After many years of trial and error, Will, now called William, became proficient in studying information about individual mines and deciding which mines had potential. Once he gained this skill, he rapidly became wealthy. In fact, Thompson became one of the wealthiest men in the United States at the time, but he was not well-known to the public. His unpopularity was because he did not engage in overt political activities. He stayed behind the scenes both politically and as a philanthropist.

William Boyce Thompson soon began using his wealth to fund activities and institutions for the benefit of fellow humans. In 1923-1924, he simultaneously set up the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research in Yonkers, New York and the Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum a few miles out of Superior, Arizona.

The name of the Institute has subsequently been shortened to the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and now sits on the campus at Cornell, New York, but remains a private institution for plant science. His plant collection and education institution now uses the name Boyce Thompson Arboretum.

Thompson's winter home, Picket Post House, was built in 1923.

Thompson invested internationally in mines that he thought would be profitable. He bought mines that extracted all manner of items useful to man, but it was copper that brought him to Arizona. In the early 1900s, Thompson bought the Shannon Mine near Morenci, Arizona. Around 1910 he purchased a mine in Miami, Arizona which he renamed Inspiration. Then his mining engineers heard of a mine that was for sale at the little mining village of Superior, Arizona.

It has been said that the owners of the Silver Queen Mine were selling it because they were set up only to extract gold and silver. There was so much copper in the ore that it cost them more to extract the precious metals than they could earn by selling them.

More detail of the information in this article can be found in the book An Abundant Arboretum, written by Sylvia Houston Lee with the assistance of Jeffrey Petrie.