During a visit to
Yellowstone National Park in 1873, Atwater collected 2,000 specimens. A new species of
moss was later named after her,
Bryum atwateriae, by
Carl Müller. Atwater became a notable botanist, corresponding with other famous botanists of this period, including
Charles Mohr. She was acquainted with
Mary Todd Lincoln after the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, and received "a gorgeous, photographic album presented me on last New Years day by Mrs. Lincoln, wife of our martyrd President" (March 36, 1867). Upon her death, she left 30 boxes of botanical specimens to the
Chicago Academy of Sciences. A collection of her scrapbooks were rediscovered in 2005 in the basement room of the
Chicago Academy of Sciences. However most of her specimens were lost in the
Great Chicago Fire of 1871. ==References==