The Wheeler Survey, carried out in 1872-1879, was one of the "Four Great Surveys" conducted by the US government after the Civil War primarily to document the geology and natural resources of the American West. Supervised by First Lieutenant (later Captain)

George Montague Wheeler George Montague Wheeler (October 9, 1842 – May 3, 1905) was an American pioneering explorer and cartographer, leader of the Wheeler Survey, one of the major surveys of the western United States in the late nineteenth century. Wheeler was bor ...

, the Wheeler Survey documented and mapped the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

west of the 100th meridian. The survey team included Lieutenant (later

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

)

Montgomery M. Macomb Montgomery Meigs Macomb (October 12, 1852 – January 19, 1924) was a United States Army Brigadier General. He was a veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I, and was notable for serving as commander of the Hawaiian Department, the A ...

. Wheeler led early expeditions from 1869 to 1871 in the West, and in 1872 the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...

authorized an ambitious plan to map the portion of the United States west of the 100th meridian at a scale of eight miles to the inch. This plan necessitated what became known as the Wheeler Survey. The survey's main goal was to make topographic maps of the southwestern United States.

In addition he was to ascertain everything related to the physical features of the region; discover the numbers, habits, and disposition of Indians in the section; select sites for future military installations; determine facilities available for making rail or common roads; and note mineral resources, climate, geology, vegetation, water sources, and agricultural potential.University of Nevada, Reno Library: Special Collections description
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Photographers on the expedition included Timothy H. O'Sullivan of New York and William Bell of Philadelphia. Many of their photographs are now on file at the Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division.Wheeler Survey Views of the American West, 1871-1874
Library of Congress website. Retrieved: 5 April 2012. The Wheeler Survey lasted until 1879, when the survey, along with the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and Powell Surveys, were terminated and their work was reorganized as the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

. Wheeler Peak in Nevada (part of the

Great Basin National Park Great Basin National Park is an American national park located in White Pine County in east-central Nevada, near the Utah border, established in 1986. The park is most commonly entered by way of Nevada State Route 488, which is connected to U. ...

), Wheeler Peak in New Mexico (the state high point), and the scenic

Wheeler Geologic Area The Wheeler Geologic Area is a highly eroded outcropping of layers of volcanic ash, in the La Garita Mountains of Mineral County, in southern Colorado in the western United States about 10 miles east north-east of Creede. The ash is the res ...

in southern

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

are named for George Wheeler.

References

External links

A Guide to the Field notebooks of the Wheeler Survey, NC319
Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.
Digitized field notebooks of the Wheeler Survey.
University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno. North American expeditions Expeditions from the United States History of the Great Basin 1870s in the United States United States Geological Survey {{explorer-stub