Exploration

We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not. Ah well, we may conjecture many things.
    – John Wesley Powell on exploring the Colorado River, 1869


A new chapter in the history of American exploration began in the 1840s. Buoyed by recent advances in the sciences, a new generation traveled west, desirous of studying this region's lands and its Native peoples. The addition of vast new territories resulting from treaties with Mexico and Britain provided the impetus for much of this work. To better understand what the United States had recently acquired, federal and state governments sponsored a series of surveying expeditions to map and inventory these lands.

In addition to surveyors, these parties included geologists, naturalists, and at times anthropologists. Artists and photographers also played a vital role in assisting this work and in publicizing the surveys themselves. The individuals shown in this section made discoveries that greatly enhanced scientific knowledge during this period. They also had the additional effect of preparing the frontier for American settlement.


Surveys


Small image, click to enlarge Small image, click to enlarge Small image, click to enlarge
Click to enlarge imageJohn C. Frémont 1813–1890
Mathew Brady (1823?–1896)
Ambrotype, c. 1856
Click to enlarge imageJessie Benton Frémont 1824–1902
Edward and Henry T. Anthony (active 1860–1901), after a photograph by the Mathew Brady Studio
Albumen silver print, c. 1865
Click to enlarge imageJames Duncan Graham 1799–1865
Attributed to John Plumbe Jr. (1809–1857)
Three-quarter-plate daguerreotype, c. 1845
         
Small image, click to enlarge Small image, click to enlarge Small image, click to enlarge
Click to enlarge imageClarence King 1842–1901
Silas Selleck (active c. 1851–1876)
Albumen silver print, 1864
Click to enlarge imageThree Men at Shoshone Falls
Unidentified photographer
Albumen silver print, c. 1877
Click to enlarge imageTimothy O’Sullivan 1840–1882
Philp & Solomons (active 1870s)
Albumen silver print, c. 1870
         

Scientists


Small image, click to enlarge Small image, click to enlarge Small image, click to enlarge
Click to enlarge imageAlice Fletcher 1838–1923
Marcus Ormsbee (active 1863–1868)
Tintype, 1868
Click to enlarge imageMatilda Coxe Stevenson 1849–1915
Charles M. Bell (1848–1893)
Albumen silver print, c. 1875
Click to enlarge imageFrank Hamilton Cushing 1857–1900
James Wallace Black (1825–1896)
Albumen silver print, 1882
         
Small image, click to enlarge Small image, click to enlarge

Click to enlarge imageOthniel Marsh 1831–1899
Frank A. Bowman (lifedates unknown)
Albumen silver print, 1883
Click to enlarge imageJohn Wesley Powell 1834–1902
John K. Hillers (1843–1925)
Albumen silver prints, 1873 (printed later)

         

  next section Continue to Discord