Dunbar, William, 1749–1810, American scientist in the old Southwest, b. near Elgin, Scotland. He came to America in 1771. Commissioned by President Jefferson to investigate the Ouachita and Red River areas, he wrote the first scientific account of the mineral wells at Hot Springs, Ark. Dunbar set up his own private astronomical observatory with instruments imported from Europe; took the first meteorological observations in the Southwest; studied the rise and fall of the Mississippi and explored its delta; and published his findings on these subjects and on the plants, animals, and Native Americans of the region in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society.
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