Early Life and Career
Funston was born in New Carlisle, Ohio before his family moved to Allen County, Kansas in 1881. His father, Edward H. Funston, was elected to the United States House of Representatives.
A slight individual who stood just 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) tall and weighed only 120 pounds (54 kg), Funston failed an admissions test to the United States Military Academy in 1884, then attended the University of Kansas from 1885 to 1888, but did not graduate. While there, he joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and became friends with future Pulitzer Prize winner William Allen White. He worked as a trainman for the Santa Fe Railroad before becoming a reporter in Kansas City in 1890.
After one year as a journalist, Funston moved into more scientific exploration, focusing primarily on botany. First serving as part of an exploring and surveying expedition in Death Valley, California in 1891, he then traveled to Alaska to spend the next two years in work for the United States Department of Agriculture.
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