Charles Lewis Anderson (1827-1910) was an American medical doctor who, in addition to the practice of medicine, made important contributions to fields of natural history, especially botany.

Educated in Indiana, he spent most of his professional life in the upper Midwest and West (Hennepin Co., Minnesota; Carson City, NV; and Santa Cruz, CA).

[2][3] His lifetime income was derived principally from medical practice, but he devoted much effort to the study of botany and other aspects of natural history.

[5][6] The St. Anthony and Minneapolis Union Medical Society Archived April 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine was organized in 1855 with Dr. C. L. Anderson as vice-president.

[6] He was active in geological and geographical exploration to the west of the Minneapolis area, locating the Kandiyohi Lakes region, and going as far as the present states of Montana and Idaho.

[1] Henry David Thoreau, in 1861 (the last year of his life), seeking a more healthful climate, visited the Minneapolis area for about two weeks.

He wished to study the flora and fauna of the region, and was accompanied most of that time by Dr. Anderson, whom Thoreau had sought out when learning of his extensive knowledge of the area's natural history.

[3][10] In one letter he wrote: The height of my ambition is to have a pleasant quiet cottage of 5 or 6 rooms, one for a library where we could read and converse evening or enjoy other amusements, a small garden of vines and fruits with a few choice flowers.

[3] His four years in Nevada saw him travelling widely around Carson City, discovering and collecting many plant species new or only poorly known to science.

[13] He was a "United States Examining surgeon for pensions", and served as "president of the City Board of Health"; he was also active in the Sons of Temperance, Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, and Freemasonry.

144[1]) He acknowledged his indebtedness to two ornithologists who provided him with information for his essay on Our Feathered Songsters, but commented parenthetically "I only wish they would not use their little guns so much."(p.

The rapid increase of population and consequent demand for building material and fuel will in time lead to the denudation of the region nearest the large cities.

was a man of exemplary character, of an even disposltion, quiet in his ways, unpretending, self-sacrificing, of a very kindly nature.

[4]During the period 1862 - 1867, when Anderson lived in Nevada, he collected many specimens of flowering plants, which he sent to Asa Gray's herbarium for analysis.