In 1880, Stejneger ordered a walking cane with a built-in collector's gun which would serve him in his specimen collection until the end of his life. In 1881, Stejneger moved to the
United States on the advice of
Jean Cabanis. He had married Anna Norman in 1876 but she chose not to move to the United States and they separated and later divorced. On arriving in the US, he immediately went to the
Smithsonian Institution to meet
Spencer Fullerton Baird after taking some time sitting in a park to brush up on his English vocabulary. Baird had been in communication and knew his competence and he began to work soon after. Stejneger became an American citizen in 1887. Within the Smithsonian Institution, he moved up the career ladder. In 1884 he was Assistant Curator for
birds, in 1889 Curator for
reptiles, in 1899 Curator for reptiles and
amphibians, and from 1911 on Head Curator for biology, a post he held until his death, having been exempted from retirement by a presidential decree. Stejneger published more than 400 scientific works on birds, reptiles, seals, the
herpetology of
Puerto Rico, and other topics. During his Bering Island trip, he became fascinated by the life of
Georg Wilhelm Steller, an 18th-century naturalist who had previously visited there. He thoroughly researched Steller's life over the next few decades, a hobby which culminated in his only non-scientific publication, an authoritative Steller biography published in 1936. Stejneger was a Life Member of the
Bergen Museum. He attended the
International Congresses of Zoology of 1898, 1901, 1904, 1907, 1913, 1927, and 1930, as well as ornithological and fisheries congresses. He was elected to the International Committee on Zoological Nomenclature in 1898 and served as the organizing secretary for the Section on Zoogeography at the 1907 International Zoological Congress (VII) in
Boston. In 1900, he was awarded a gold medal at the
Paris Exposition for his work on fur seals management and conservation. In 1923, Stejneger was elected to the
National Academy of Sciences. In 1931, he was made honorary president for life of the
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. In 1906, he was made knight of the
Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olaf and then in 1939 Commander of the same order. ==Legacy==