By Luke Sparreo
Dec 19 2025
In the 1930s, the agricultural industry and natural environment of the United States were decimated by the Dust Bowl. Determined to remedy the situation and prevent further damage, then Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace encouraged scientific solutions for American agricultural problems through Roosevelt’s New Deal measures (Wijkman, 2019). As part of this goal, Wallace organized a USDA expedition to the steppe of China’s Inner Mongolia region in search of drought-resistant grasses that could be utilized as cattle forage (McCannon, 2022).
Unexpected to many at the USDA, Wallace selected Nicholas Roerich to lead the expedition. Not a botanist, Roerich is best remembered as an artist and cultural figure. Born in Russia, his paintings and writings became popular in the early 20th century. Perhaps most celebrated are his set and costume designs for Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring (Archer, 1986). Later in life, Roerich moved to the United States and began travelling extensively throughout Asia, developing an interest in religion and culture. His legacy as a cultural steward is reflected in 4 Nobel Peace Prize nominations and the passage of the Roerich Pact, an international effort to protect artistic and religious institutions during wartime. Despite these significant accomplishments, Roerich was not an obvious choice to lead a botanical expedition. However, Secretary Wallace was deeply devoted to Roerich’s work and eager to assist Roerich in his wish for funding to return to Asia. The two developed their plan for a Roerich-led expedition, ignoring frustrations from others at the USDA that the selection of Roerich was “unusual” (McCannon, 2022).
Critically, Roerich was joined by a team that carried out scientific work for the expedition, including Chinese botanist Yi Li Keng. A newly minted expert, Keng graduated with a PhD from George Washington University and published his thesis, The Grasses of China, just a year before joining Roerich (Barnhart, 1965). Keng’s collections from the Inner Mongolian steppe are one of the sources of NYBG’s herbarium material received from this expedition. Additionally, it was Keng who published scientific reports on the expedition’s discoveries, including the description of six new species and status updates on other collections (Keng, 1938). After this expedition, Keng went on to have a successful career as a professor at Nanjing University, where he continued to describe the flora of China. He eventually began working with his son, who also became a botanist (Keng & Keng, 1946).
Despite herbarium specimens, seeds, and reports making their way back to the United States, the expedition became bogged down in logistical and diplomatic challenges. Many of these issues were blamed on the selection of such an unconventional leader, and Secretary Wallace eventually ordered Roerich to end the expedition in 1935 (McCannon, 2022). Yet, thanks to the hard work of scientists like Keng, the USDA’s Inner Mongolian expedition did succeed in expanding botanical knowledge of the region and its drought-resistant plants.
Roerich (2019) elegantly describes the landscapes of Asia, motivations for the trip, and his views on environmental stewardship in this excerpt from his essay titled "The Deserts Shall Blossom Again":
In the dead deserts of Asia, one may often hear the murmur of underground streams, which at times give rise to the beliefs in subterranean life. Not seldom have these streams been driven under stones and pebbles by human hands that have rapaciously destroyed the vegetation.
The expanses of sand in Central Asia, Lithuania, and America are limitless; thus, in the most diverse parts of the earth, one finds these same soil maladies that worry husbandmen. It is, therefore, readily understood why President Roosevelt and Secretary of Agriculture Wallace also worry over the rescue and revivification of the desert, not only through reforestation but also through the discovery of the best drought-resistant grasses. In this sense, the steppes and gobis of Asia provide wonderful material for study. Upon these sand dunes, upon these endless mounds is still preserved the original vegetation, which has withstood all types of catastrophes. The dunes of Barga—a part of Mongolia where “God still creates the grass” provide opportunity for the most diverse, practical observations. There one still finds remnants of the great forests; there still are found great quantities of feathergrass and other steppe grasses that are at once strongly resistant and useful for forage. It is especially fitting that the study of these grasses, which withstand drought and other climatic catastrophes, is now being carried on along broad channels. Because such experiments require years of work, the sooner attention is paid to this imperative need of the earth, the sooner and more effectively will the panacea be found.
People who in the simplicity of their souls still think that “God creates the grass” should also remember the other proverb, “Trust God and do your own share.”
