Collin Ewing discovers personal link to the BLM’s earliest roots

During a quiet moment with family, Collin Ewing, Field Manager for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) California's Arcata Field Office, uncovered a personal link to the early days of the Department of the Interior. While sitting with his grandmother during his grandfather’s final days, he learned that his great-great-great-great-great uncle was Thomas Ewing Sr., the nation’s first Secretary of the Interior. 

It's always cool when you can go look and find a family member who there’s information about, and you can learn more about them. The fact that he was Secretary of Interior and now I work for the Department of Interior…it’s kind of interesting and neat." - BLM California Arcata Field Office Manager Collin Ewing

 

Since then, he’s dug deeper into his family’s past, learning about Thomas’s political career, his ties to historic figures like William Tecumseh Sherman, and even connecting with online communities dedicated to Ewing descendants.

Thomas, a U.S. senator from Ohio and member of the Whig Party, served as Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents William Henry Harrison and John Tyler before he was appointed as the first Secretary of the newly formed Department of the Interior by President Zachary Taylor.

Today, Collin Ewing proudly displays a portrait of Secretary Ewing in his office and recently stood before the original portrait of his ancestor in Washington, D.C during his recent detail as the BLM's Liaison to the Foundation For America's Public Lands at the Main Interior Building.  

While Ewing remains grounded about the legacy, acknowledging both the accomplishments and complexities of that time in history, he sees value in preserving the story for future generations. He’s spent nearly two decades working for Interior, including at both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the BLM.

“It’s really rewarding to work with the staff and the communities…to manage these lands in the way that benefits people and protects the special resources that are on the land,” he said.  

Without ever planning it, Ewing found himself working in the very agency that carries forward a mission his great uncle helped set in motion.