On this date in 1902 in Higginsville, Missouri, John Clark Salyer II, the father of the National Wildlife Refuge System, was born. To those who knew him growing up, this title makes sense. As a teenager, he got permission to leave school early and run his trapline in the marshes. He would catch foxes, raccoons, skunks, and opossums, which earned him up to $750 a year. He used that money to pay for his college degree.