Fieldwork has been an important component of human geography. A multi-decade analysis of articles in three major journals shows that human geographers since the mid-1970s have produced less fieldwork-based research than ever before in this century. The impetus for this unprecedented decline and other similar disciplinary trends are traced to several causes: demographic change, technological change, institutional pressures, and the resurgence of applied geography. Such fundamental change places disturbing questions before geographers.

This paper looks at Carl Sauer's undergraduate and pre-Berkeley experiences in relation to his more mature views of geography. A biographical approach is used to illustrate the link between milieu and intellectual development. It is argued that Sauer's undergraduate days in Warrenton. Missouri were decidedly significant in shaping his worldview and that his later writings are better understood in light of his childhood and adolescent experiences. The conclusion points to the need to re-evaluate the repeatedlv cited influence of Alfred Kroeber and Robert Lmwie on Sauer.

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