John James Audubon
Audubon set up a dry goods business on the western frontier in Henderson, Kentucky. He continued to draw birds as a hobby. He was quite successful in business, but hard times hit. In 1819 he was briefly jailed for bankruptcy. Audubon had few prospects. He set off with his gun, his artist’s materials, and a young assistant to paint America's birds. Floating down the Mississippi River, he lived a rugged hand-to-mouth existence in the South. His wife earned money as a tutor to rich plantation families. In 1826 he sailed with his partly finished collection of bird drawings to England. "The American Woodsman" was an overnight success.