The Mulford Biological Exploration of the Amazon Basin was a scientific expedition to the Amazon conducted in 1921.[1] It was organized by Henry Hurd Rusby, who at age 64, was a well known explorer, a professor at Columbia University, and a staff member at the New York Botanical Garden. He hired Orland Emile White, a staff member at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, to assist with collection and handling of plant specimens. The expedition was financed by the H. K. Mulford Company, a pharmaceutical company.
Its mission was to explore the Amazon Valley from the headwaters of the Quime River in Bolivia to the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil. The expedition left La Paz, Bolivia, in July 1921. Rusby was forced to leave the expedition due to neuritis, an infected tooth, and his age; however, White and Martín Cárdenas continued to collect.[2] The expedition lasted eight months, but never reached the Amazon.