Wickliff1

Enlightened Arguments: The Photographic Innovations

in Nineteenth-Century American Science and Technology
Gregory A. Wickliff, Ph.D. University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Brief Description

Enlightened Arguments explores the history of photography through nineteenth-

century American scientific and technical texts. Through vivid and often beautiful

examples, the books displays the diversity of responses to photography in science,

medicine, and engineering across the medium's first six decades. The goal is to reveal

fundamental ideas about and attitudes toward observation, representation,

photographic evidence, and the philosophy of science in the American culture of the

period. The examples presented are many vast and rich. Scientists and illustrators sought

methods for integrating new photographic imagery into the older communications

technology that continued to provide much of their professional understanding and

prestige printed publication. The first popular and high-resolution form of

photography, the daguerreotype, proved resistant to direct printing methods from

because of its metal plates. Yet the detailed realism of the daguerreotype fueled a desire

to integrate photographic images directly into written arguments without the

intervening handwork of an engraver. Through a series of improved photochemical and

photomechanical processes for reproduction, photographs and their facsimiles

eventually came to be regarded as acceptable substitutes for the direct observation of

specimens and processes in American scientific and technical publications of many

kinds, such as books, articles, and reports.

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At the same time that scientists made innovative improvements in the technology of

photography, they also sought to discover new information about the nature of light

itself, including qualities of spectra beyond visible light the ultraviolet, infrared, and

eventually, x-rays. As the century progressed, the desire for improved photographs

drove the development of new materials and imaging methods in fields like optical

science, microscopy, and astronomy. Americans took leading roles in this work in several

areas, embracing the technology of the camera and light-sensitive plate and adapting it

for specialized purposes to illustrate publications in their disciplines. Among those

whose photo-illustrated work is featured in this book are the chemist and physicist John

William Draper (1811-1882), the paleontologists, Edward Hitchcock (1793-1864) and

James Deane (1801-1858), the astronomer Henry Draper (1837-1882), the physician and

microscopist Joseph Janvier Woodward (1833-1884), and the engineer Octave Chanute

(1832-1910). While these authors will not be familiar to most lay readers, they produced

important work in their disciplines, and biographical information will be included about

each.

Key questions thisat book addresses include:

In the scientific and technical disciplines, how did photographic illustration

evolve in America from the pre-photographic experiments before 1839,

though engraved facsimiles of daguerreotypes to photographs printed by the

halftone process in ink in the 1880s and 90s.?

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What categories of claims for truth can we recognize for scientific and

technical photographs in American publications of the period?

Do emerging disciplines of the kind that Americans began photographically

to explore physics, geology, astronomy, microscopy, physiology and

medicine make parallel or competing claims for published photography in

the nineteenth century?

To what lengths of cost and effort were nineteenth-century writers,

photographers, and publishers willing to go in order to bind into their texts

the perceived credibility of the photo-based image as photographic and

printing technologies evolved?

What conventions were developed for integrating photography into larger

texts, and how did these conventions change, and in response to what

technological, cultural, or editorial pressures?

Outstanding Features

The chief highlight of the book will be its rich imagery selected from photo-based

illustrations published between 1839 and 1900 in the natural sciences, medicine, and

engineering. In each case, history is revealed through the author's attitude toward the

nature and power of photography and photo-illustration. In all, some 158 figures are

drawn from more than 60 photo-illustrated texts in science and technology that reflect

innovative photographic methods and written arguments. All are nineteenth- century
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texts for which copyright protections have expired and most are in government

collections. I have also been able to purchase a small number of primary texts myself,

and from those, have created high resolution CMYK scans of key images.

Another highlight of the book is its close connections to the Smithsonian Institution

where the Lemelson Center is housed. In the summer of 2014, I was a resident fellow in

the Dibner Library for the History of Science and Technology in the National Museum of

American History (NMAH), and in 2010, I completed a Lemelson Center Fellowship

with the Archives Center of the NMAH. The book highlights this research and points to

holdings in the Smithsonian Libraries, the NMAH Archives Center, the Photographic

History Division, the Physical Sciences Division, and the National Portrait Gallery. Other

materials are drawn from the Library of Congress, the National Museum of Health and

Medicine, the National Library of Medicine, as well as the Special Collections at the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Competition

The history of nineteenth-century photography has been written and, rewritten, and

rewritten again by successive generations of practitioners, journalists, historians, and

cultural critics. Early photographs have most often been treated as part of the art history

tradition and less often as artifacts of the culture of science and technology. Much

photographic history remains deeply rooted in the description of aesthetic

accomplishment. We celebrate the portraiture of Albert Sands Southworth and Josiah

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Johnson Hawes as heralded by Merry Foresta, and the battlefield photojournalism of

Matthew Brady as described by Alan Tractenberg and William Welling, but less so the

accomplishments of Southworth and Brady's first instructors of daguerreotypy - John

William Draper and Samuel Finley Breese Morse. , although Sarah Kate Gillespies

recent book in the Lemelson series begins to address that gap. We are moved by the

Western landscapes of Carleton Watkins and William Henry Jackson as interpreted by

Peter Bacon Hales and William Truettner, but have difficulty interpreting the scope and

importance of the government-sponsored geological surveys for which their images

were created. Other historians, too numerous to list, have examined closely the

significance of important individual photographs and invention of photography itself,

primarily in the French and British traditions. These, includeing the earliest surviving

images made by Joseph Nicphore Nipce, the subsequent photographs by Louis

Jacques Mand Daguerre, and the paper-based images and innovative book illustration

of William Henry Fox Talbot. OYet others have explored chronology of the invention of

ingenious imaging devices, including the camera obscura, the daguerreian camera, the

wet and dry plate processes, and gelatin film.

This book participates in a conversation about cultural history of the kind that Susan

Barger, Carol Armstrong, Mary Warner Marien, Martha Sandweiss, Ann Thomas,

Jennifer Tucker, Stephen Bann, Johana Drucker, and Sarah Kate Gillespie have written.

Published histories of modern science often pay littlescant attention to the roles of

photography in establishing claims for truth, and most histories of photography only
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attend only rather narrowly to the sweep of science in the era from which they were

produced. The exceptions include the works of Franois Brunet and Kelley Wilder.

Scholars of writing and rhetoric, too, have seldom explicitly focused attention on the

claims made for and by the images appearing in historic publications a rich bound

context of presentation, argument, and information. The published photograph that was

mechanically or chemically reproduced on paper, on a printing plate, or on stone has too

often been considered mere representation, realism or naturalism. They are also

considered , a decoration appended to a primarily textual context, or at the other

extreme, an icon, physically or intellectually separated from its written context. Richard

Bensons work begins to address issues of reproduction and process in The Printed

Picture, but the focus is not primarily upon the history of the works from which the

examples wereare selected.

Enlightened Arguments treats photographic illustration as integral to authors

intellectual and disciplinary claims, revealing attitudes toward science, representation,

language, and culture. In the context of nineteenth-century America, photographic

interpretation is central to understanding history a history where pictorial subjects,

textures, tones, colors, cropping, and methods of reproduction all affect a reading of the

cultural artifact, a persuasive or not-so-persuasive claim for the truth or the worth of an

intellectual or technical enterprise. It is important to Sstudying photography in scientific

and technical publications is important because it is there that authors reveal their

attitudes toward emerging philosophies of science and technological progress,, toward

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the nature of observation and representation itself (Jonathan Crary, Techniques of the

Observer), and even toward the social and ethical roles of the scientist or engineer in a

century dominated by debates over race, slavery, and the Civil War (Molly Rogers,

Delias Tears). The surviving correspondence of scientists often reveals the negotiation of

meanings between authors, editors, photographers, and research communities that

included colleagues, assistants, and sometimes spouses and students.

Apparatus

The book will include figures, a glossary, a bibliography of primary sources, a list of

references and endnotes, an index, and an appended timeline of photographic and

graphic technologies. No supplementary materials beyond the book itself are planned at

this time.

Audience

The book will have several audiences, including lay and professional readers of the

history of photography, lay and professional readers of the history of science, and

technology, and lay readers of nineteenth-century American culture. It should be

especially valuable for student readers interested in the history and illustration of

technical and scientific communication in America. Four of the chapters build upon

work previously published in refereed scientific and technical communication journals.

The chapter focused upon Civil War era medicine and technology may also attract

readers interested in the cultural effects of that conflict. The work does not assume
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previous familiarity with the history of photography, but does include specialized

terminology describing photographic materials, processes, lithographic processes, and

some vocabulary from the scientific disciplines. Each term will be defined on first

reference, and specialized terms will appear in a glossary. References to scholarly

secondary sources will be confined primary to the notes.

Market Considerations

This book should appeal to readers interested in the history of photography, the

history of science and technology, American cultural history of the nineteenth -century,

and students of scientific and technical communication. The book might also be able to

support museum exhibitions on the history of American science and photography. It will

showcase a large number of photographs that are outside the canon of popular images

from nineteenth-century America, each of which helps to tell a story about science,

medicine, and the authors and illustrators who created it. A good deal of biographical

information will be included about each major figure whose photographic work is

featured. The book should appeal to members of the History of Science Society, the

Society for the History of Technology, the Society for Technical Communication, the

Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, The American Association for the History

of Medicine, the American Philosophical Society, the Daguerreian Society, and similar

organizations.

Status of the Book

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The introduction and chapters are drafted. The supporting apparatus is currently

being drafted, and editing of the entire work could be completed by August 2017. In

double-spaced type, the text is 322 pages in manuscript. The book will have an

additional 158 captioned figures.

Reviewers

As reviewers, you might consider David E. Haberstich, Curator of Photography,

Archives Center, National Museum of American History or Michelle Delaney, Director,

Smithsonian Consortium for Understanding the American Experience.

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Chapter V Post-war Icons of Technology and

Communication
Wearetheresidentsofagreatcontinent,whichisburstingintolife.Uponus,andour

immediatedescendants,hasdevolvedthedutyofdevelopingonascalehithertounknown

inthisworldtheresourcesofthegiantempire,whichisgoingtostretchfromtheAtlantic

tothePacificocean.Themenarenowbornwhowillheartheloudsnortofthe

locomotiveinthedesertsbeyondtheRockyMountains.Nosystemofeducationthathas

everyetbeentriedwillmeetourwants.Wewantmeansfortherapiddevelopmentofall

ourpowersmeansfortherapiddevelopmentofallourresources.Thesoilbeneathus

teemswithwealth;ourpopulationisincreasingbeyondallexample;wearemenof

enterpriseandenergy,livinginaperiodoftheearth'shistoryunlikeanythathas

preceded,whentheforceofintellectisfastsupplantingallotherpowers,andundera

governmenttheconstitutionofwhichhasnoexample. 1

Delta[JohnWilliamDraper]SouthernLiteraryMessenger,1840

Itseemsmorethancuriousthatthedevelopmentofsuccessfulphotographyandthe

electromagnetictelegraphsocloselycoincide,inthecastofkeyindividualsaswellasthe

periodoftime(seeFigure124).SamuelMorseandJohnWilliamDraperseemtohave

beenswepttowardeachotherintheFfallof1839,withtheirsharedexperimentsin

photographyandelectricity.ByAprilof1840theywouldoperateadaguerreotypestudio

togetherfromtheroofoftheUniversityoftheCityofNewYork,andbegintotraina

generationofphotographers.Inresearchingtheelectromagnetictelegraphy,bothhad

studiedtheresearchofJosephHenry,whowouldbecomethefirstsecretaryofthe
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SmithsonianInstitutionin1846.Henryhadpublishedapaperin1831thatexplainedthe

designandconstructionofalargeelectromagnet,theprincipalofanelectromagnetic

switch,operatedatadistanceacrossacoilofwire.Morsescontributionwastorecognize

thepracticalapplicationofsuchadevicetotreatitasadistancecommunication

technology,topatentaspecificdesignintheU.S.andabroad,andtosuccessfullydefend

hisinnovationsagainsttheinroadsofotherwouldbeentrepreneurs.Communications

processesanddevicessoonbecamethestuffofpatentwars.

Thenineteenthcenturyhadbegunwithaperiodofrelatedchangesintransportation

engineeringandcommunicationtechnologyintheUnitedStates.Steamboatsfirstmoved

uptheMississippiin1811,andatthesametime,FriedrichKoenigssteamprintingpress

inLondonwasbeginningtofacilitatearevolutionintheavailabilityofinexpensivetexts

andaparallelriseinpopularliteracy.CanalbuildingwaswidespreadintheUnitedStates

bythe1820sand30s.Railroadswerealreadyexpandingrapidlybetweenmajorcitieseast

oftheMississippiinthe1830sand40s.SamuelFinleyBreeseMorse,buildingonthe

workofJosephHenryandwiththesupportattheUniversityoftheCityofNewYork

fromLeonardGale,AlfredVail,andevenfromJohnWilliamDraper,developedand

testedhiselectromagnetictelegraphacrosslongerandlongerstretchesofwirefrom1837

forward.In1854,thefatherofthesteamnavy,MatthewCalbraithPerry,commandedthe

U.S.S.PowhatanasheconcludedhistreatynegotiationswiththeJapanese,expandingthe

reachofU.S.trade(seeFigure125).Then,asnow,transportationengineeringwas

makingtheglobefeelsmaller.Beginningin1856,aseriesoflessthancompletely

successfultransatlanticcableswerelaid,withAmerican,British,French,andGerman
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ownedlines(sSeeFigure126).By1865,theAmericanCivilwarincreasedthepaceof

developmentoftherailroadsandtelegraphnetworksacrosstheNorthAmerican

continent.InJapanandacrosstheUnitedStates,photographerscapturedimageswiththe

technologyofcamera.By1844,Draperhadinventedachemicallightmeterthathecalled

thetithonometer,designedwiththegoalofquantifyinglightenergyinthesamewaythat

steamenergyhadbeenharnessedandmeasured(seeFigure127).

ThepushacrossthefarWestthatDraperhadanticipatedinhis1840articleforthe

SouthernLiteraryMessengerabouttheJamesSmithsonbequesthadbecomeareality

longbefore1860,buttheU.S.CivilWardivertedresourcesfromlargescalecivilian

engineeringdevelopment.ThewarhadseenuseofphotographyonthefieldofBattleby

cameraoperatorsretainedbyMatthewBradyandAlexanderGardner,aswellasoneof

theU.S.ArmysownsoldiersinthecaseofAndrewJ.Russell(seeFigure128),andtheir

imagesservedasthebasisforengravingsinthenewsmagazinesoftheera(seeFigure

129).FollowingthesuccessofJamesWallaceBlackinphotographingBostonfromahot

airballoonin1860,headvocatedtheuseofthesametechniquebyCoastSurvey,directed

byAlexanderDallasBache,andbytheArmysTopographicalEngineers,whodirected

theexperimentalworkwithballoonsbyThaddeusLowe.TheU.S.Armyraisedaballoon

corpsunderLoweforthepurposeofobservingenemymovementsandinJune1861,

LowedemonstratedaerialreconnaissancetelegraphyinWashington.Atthesametime,

DraperandothermembersoftheAmericanPhotographicalSocietyadvocatedforthe

potentialvalueofaerialphotography(seeFigure130).2Despitemediaattentioninthe

popularpress(seeFigure131),neithertransportationnorcommunicationtechnologies
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weredeeplyshapedbythewartimeexperimentofreconnaissanceballooning.Butwhen

theU.S.CivilWardrewtoitsclose,PresidentLincolnimmediatelybegantheprocessof

divestingthemilitaryofenormousamountsofmoreconventionalresourceshumanand

technological.Civiliantechnologicaldevelopmentwasrekindledininnumerable

directions,whiletheassassinationofLincolndrewtogetherindividualsfromallwalksof

lifeinsummationofthelossesofthewar.JosephJanvierWoodwardcontinuedthework

inphotomicrographythatwouldleadtowardSternbergssuccessesinbacteriology,and

participatedintheautopsiesofbothLincolnandJohnWilkesBooth.OctaveChanute,as

anengineerontherapidlyexpandingChicago&AltonRailroad,traveledthefinallegof

Lincolnshomewardjourney,fromChicagotoSpringfield,justaheadofthefuneraltrain

itself,makingsurethetracksweresafeandclear.3AndasLincolnsbodywaslaidtorest,

thefederalgovernmentbegantodivestitselfofthematerialsofwar.JohnWilliam

Draperwouldcatalogtheprocessinhis1867threevolumehistoryofthewar,oneofthe

earliesthistoricalaccountsofthewar,drawnlargelyfromtherecordsofSecretary

StantonandGeneralSherman.AsDraperreportsit,byNovember1866,afederal

militarythathadatonetimeapproachedtwomillioninservicehadbeendisbanded,

leavinginservice11,043volunteers,whiteandcolored.4Aspartofthecivilian

politicalshifts,themilitarytransportationandcommunicationsinfrastructurewassoon

soldoffaswell:

Of262vesselswhichhadbeenemployedoninlandtransportationatanexpenseof

$4,193,53328,nonewereremaininginserviceonJune30,1866;salesofriver

transports,steamers,andbargesduringtheyeararereportedasamountingto$1,152,895

92.Themilitaryrailroadswhichwereoperatedduringthewar,atatotalexpenditureof
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$45,422,71915,andwhichareofficiallyreportedtohavereachedanextentof2630

miles,andtohavepossessed433locomotivesand6605cars,haveallbeentransferredto

companiesorboardsorpublicworks,uponconditionoftheadoptionofloyal

organizationsofdirectors....Themilitarytelegraph,whichattaintedanextentof

15,389milesoflines,constructedduringthehostilities,withatotalexpenditureof

$3,219,400duringthewar,and$367,637duringthelastfiscalyear,hasbeen

discontinued,thematerialsoldanddisposedof,andtheemployeesdischarged.... 5

Investorswerelookingtorebuildandtocreatenewpostwarmarkets.Consequently,the

transportationofpeopleandgoodswascentraltothepostwareconomy.Althoughthe

nationhadexpandedwestwardquicklyfollowingtheMexicanWarandduringthe

Californiagoldrush,transportationtotheWestcoastwasdifficultatbest.AsSimine

Short,thebiographerofthetransportationpioneerOctaveChanute,explainsit,atthe

closeoftheMexicanWarin1848:

ThefrontiertownofChicagosatattheedgeofcivilization,withmorethan2,100miles

ofland,unpopulatedbysettlers,separatingitformfromburgeoningCalifornia.Toreach

theWestCoast,onecouldtravelbyseadowntheEastCoast,crossthemalariainfested

IsthmusofPanamaonamule,andcontinuebyseatoCalifornia.Oronecouldsailaround

SouthAmerica,whichtookaboutthreemonths.Alternatively,onecouldtravelforan

undeterminedtimebycoveredwagonthroughmostlyunchartedterritoryacrossthe

continent.6

WiththeCivilWarended,agreatopportunityandchallengewouldbetoestablishrail

transportationbetweentheEastandWestcoastsofthereunifiednation.Doingsowould

requirefeatsofengineering;.bBridgesneededtobeconstructedacrossmajorrivers,

mountainpassesgraded,andtunnelscut.Itwouldbeachallengeofbothgovernmentand
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corporatesponsoredengineering.Andthecamerawouldgoalongtodocumentthe

engineeringaccomplishments,andinsomeimages,thenaturalresourceandhumancosts

ofdevelopmentandurbanization.AstherailroadsbranchedwestfromChicagoandSt

Louis,newurbancentersgrewuprapidlyatkeyjunctions,andacontestemerged

betweentheshippinginterestsofthesouthflowingmajorrivers,andthewestwardpush

oftherailroads.Therailroadbridgesthemselveswerethelegalandtechnological

fulcrumsinthebalanceofpower.Theearliestmajorbattlewasoverthefirstrailroad

bridgeacrosstheMississippiatRockIslandIllinois,aprojectthatdatedbackto1853.

Amongtheprinciplepartiesinthe1857lawsuitoverthebridgewereAbrahamLincolnas

anattorneyfortherailroadsand,JeffersonDavisasSecretaryofWarwhoclaimedRock

Islandforthemilitaryandwantedthebridgehalted.Appealscontinueduntilin1863,

whentheU.S.Supremecourtallowedthebridgetostand.Theninthepostwar

economy,theracewasontobridgetheriversandunitetheeastandwestinavast

transportationandcommunicationnetwork.

By1867,inanemergentKansasCity,OctaveChanute,aFrenchbornAmerican

engineerwhowouldlatercollaboratewiththeWrightBrotherstowarddesignsfor

poweredflight,documentedcarefullyandphotographically,thetwoyearconstructionof

thefirstbridgeacrosstheMissouririver.Atthesametime,fartherwest,survey

expeditionswerebeingmounted,withphotographersemployedintheparties,tocarrythe

networkofrailroadsallthewayacrossthecontinent.Thesewesterncamerasand

railroadsbroughtvisualargumentsfortechnologicalprogressandprowessbackto

Easternreaderswheremuchofthepopulation,andmuchofthecapitalforcivilian
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investment,remainedcentered.

RailsReachWestfromChicago

ThecareerofOctaveChanute(18321910)providesanidealpointofviewthrough

whichtoenvisionandevaluatetheurgeforwestwardexpansioninofthefinaldecadesof

thecentury.Hisisthestoryofanimportanttransportationengineerwhorosefroman

unpaidlaborertochiefengineeroftheErieRailroad,fromgliderdesignertoaforefather

ofpoweredflightandcollaboratorwiththeWrightbrothers.Tounderstandhis

accomplishments,andparticularlythesignificanceofthebridgeconstructionhe

supervisedacrosstheMissouriRiveratKansasCity,weneedtounderstandhislifeasa

youngimmigrantfromFrancewhoarrivedinLouisianainDecember1838,justdays

beforeDaguerrespublicpronouncementsaboutphotographywouldfirstbereportedin

thenewspapersofParisandLondon.

AsSimineShortexplainsinherrecentbiography,ChanuteistheAmericanspelling

adoptedbyOctaveAlexandreChanut,whocametotheUnitedStatesatagesixwithishis

father,Joseph,whohadbeeninvitedtoleavehispositionasaprofessorofhistoryin

ParisattheLyceHenriIVforthepositionofvicepresidentofayoungJefferson

CollegeinLouisiana.Octavesmother,Elise,hadrequestedalegalseparationfromher

husband,whowas16yearsolderthanshe.Octavewastheoldestofthreeboysfromthe

marriage,andtheonlyonetoaccompanyhisfathertoAmericaonthealmosttwomonth

voyagefromFrance,toNewYork,toNewOrleans.Whileatfirstthefortunesofthetwo

ChanutsinLouisianaseemedwellrewarded,thedestructionofJeffersonCollegebya

firein1841becametheirundoing.Thecollegestruggledtogetbackonitsfeetand
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Josephwasonlypaidintermittently,soin1844heresignedandmovedwithhissonto

NewOrleans.7By1846,thefatherandsonpairwastravellinginlandtoNewYorkCity

inthehopeofmakingyetanothernewbeginning.

Asateenager,ChanutebeganworkingasachainmanontheHudsonRiverRailroad

inNewYorkasteenager,eventuallybecominganengineer.8Theworktookhimwest,to

Illinois,thenSt.Louis,andthenChicago.By1864hehadbeenmadethechiefengineer

oftheChicago&AltonRailroad,andjustmonthsaftertheCivilWarended,wasselected

todesignandbuildtheUnionStockYardsinChicago.InJuly1866,Congresspassedan

amendedOmnibusBridgeActthatincludedaprovisionthatallowedfortheconstruction

ofseveralmajorbridges,includingoneacrosstheMissouriRiver.Butthechallenges

weredaunting;t.TheMissouriwasconsideredbymanyprofessionalsunbridgeable

becauseofitsshiftingcurrentsanddeepsands.TheBostongroupinvestor,James

FrederickJoyaDetroitattorney,railwaymagnate,andformerfriendoftheassassinated

LincolnselectedChanutetodesignabridgeacrosstheriver.Chanutewaspleasedwith

thechallenge,butthebridgeacrosstheMissouriRiveratKansasCityrepresentedthe

westernfrontierin1867,andhiswifewasinthebeginningreluctanttomakethemovein

thebeginning.9Butsoontheywereinanewhomeoverlookingthebridgesite.

ClearlyChanuteintendedtomakethebridgeasignatureprojectforhimselfasvery

earlyintheprocessheretainedtheKansasCityphotographerWilliamOwenRaganas

theofficialphotographerforthetwoyearbridgeprojectforareputedcontractfeeof

$2000.10Chanuteandoneofhisassistants,GeorgeMorrison,wroteadetailedtreatise

abouttheengineeringproblemspresentedbythebridgeparticularlythesubmarine
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foundationsofitspiers.Overall,thebridgeworkscoveredaonemilespanwithseven

limestoneandconcretepiers.Acenterspanpivotedallowingtallboatstopass,andthe

bridgewasdesignedtobeusedbypedestriansandhorsedrawnvehicleswhentrain

trafficallowed.ThechallengesandsuccesseswerecarefullypresentedinTheKansas

CityBridge,withanAccountoftheRegimensoftheMissouriRiver,andDescriptionof

MethodsUsedforFoundinginthatRiver(1870).

Working300milesfromanygeneralmarketsormachineshopsfortwoyears,

Chanutesupervisedsteamboats,andtheworkofcrewsofmasons,carpenters,and

ironworkers(seeFigure132).Becauseoftheriversshiftingcurrentsandscouringeffect,

Chanuteconcludedthatatleastthreeofthepiersneededtorestdirectlyonbedrock.To

doso,submarinediverswereneededtofitthematerialstotheexcavatedstonesothatthe

waterinthecaissoncouldbepumpedoutandthestoneleveledtobeginthemasonry

work(seeFigure133).Itwasnosmalltask.AsaHarpersWeeklyarticleaboutthe

progressoftheworkexplained:......thecaissonwasloweredtowithinfourfeetof

thebedrock,whenacloselayerofboulderswasencountered.Theservicesofthe

submarinediverswererequiredtoremovetheseonebyone,theyworkingforawhole

month,nightandday,atadepthofaboutfiftyfeetbelowthesurfaceofthewaterwith

3000tonsofmasonryabovethem.11Bythetimethebridgenearedcompletion,telegraph

linepoleshadappearedalongitsspanaswell(seeFigure134).Thecompletedbridgewas

thesubjectofgreatcelebrationandengravings,basedonRagansphotographs,andwere

featuredinScientificAmerican(seeFigure135)aswellasHarpersWeekly.The

completedbridgebroughttogethersevenraillines,includingroutestoSt.Louis,
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Leavenworth,St.JosephandChicago,aswellastotheKansasPacificRailroadandthe

roughlyfourhundredandgivemilesinoperationtothewest.Justthreemonthsearlier,

A.J.Russellhadmadehisfamousphotographofthecelebrationofdrivingofthe"Last

Spike"atPromontorySummit,U.T.,May10,1869.

TheLastSpikerepresentedtheculminationofyearsofgovernmentsponsored

resourcedevelopmentintheWest.Soonafterthecloseofthewar,militaryengineering

hadbeenredirectedtowardatranscontinentalrailroad.InMarchof1867,Brigadier

GeneralA.A.Humphreys,ChiefofEngineersinthe,DepartmentofWar,gavetheyoung

geologistClarenceKingorderstodirectageologicalandtopographicalexplorationof

theterritorybetweentheRockyMountainsandtheSierraNevadamountains,including

therouteorroutesofthePacificrailroad12Thepurposeoftheexplorationwasto

examineanddescribethegeologicalstructure,geographicalconditionandnatural

resourcesofthebeltofthecountryextendingfromthe120thmeridianeastwardtothe

105thmeridian,alongthe40thparalleloflatitude,withsufficientexpansionnorthand

southtoincludethelinesoftheCentralandUnionPacificrailroads13Sobeganone

offourmajorlatenineteenthcenturygeologicalsurveysoftheAmericanWest,surveys

inwhichthelandwasremapped,renamed,photographed,andcataloged.Inoneway,it

wasaconquestofdocumentation,amissiontorecordrockformations,mountainranges,

detritalplains,mines,coaldeposits,soils,minerals,ores,salineandalkalinedeposits;,a

campaigntomapthechiefminingdistrictsandthetopographyoftheentireregion;,anda

missiontoassemblecollectionsofbotanical,geological,andethnologicalspecimens.

AmongthephotographicplatesmadefortheWesternsurveyswouldbethenowfamous
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imagesbyWilliamBell,E.O.Beaman,JohnK.Hillers,JamesFennemore,William

HenryJackson,TimothyOSullivan,andCarletonWatkins.TheseimagesoftheWest

suggestanineteenthcenturytraditionofnaturalresourcepreservation,butread

historically,thesurveyphotographsappearlesstheproductsofanindividualsaesthetic

sensibilityandmorereflectionsoftheeconomicandpoliticalforcesthatcolonizedthe

AmericanWestinthedecadesaftertheCivilWar.14

AmongtheprimarylongtermgoalsoftheearlyU.S.geologicalsurveyswereboth

thecelebrationandthesubjugationofnatureintheAmericanWest.Selectedviewsofthe

naturalwondersofYellowstoneandYosemitewouldfunctionaspublicityforan

incipienttouristindustrytobringeasternerswest.ImagesfromJohnWesleyPowells

voyagesthroughtheGrandCanyonwouldshowAmericantechnology,courage,and

resourcefulnessovercomingthedangersofthemightyColoradoRiver.Whileattheother

extreme,surveyphotographerswerealsodirectedtorecordimagesofdevelopingcities

likeSaltLakeCity,Utah;VirginiaCity,Nevada;andLeadville,Coloradoplaceswhere

agriculturalorminingindustrysuccessesseemedtopromisewealthandculture,thatis,

cultureinthesenseoftechnologyandartnaturereshapedforspecificends.

Thefederallysponsoredgeologicalsurveyswereprimarilycivilianeffortsthat

reinforcedthepracticesofearlierstatesponsoredsurveys.UnliketheMassachusetts

surveythatEdwardHitchcockhaddirectedinthe1830s,muchofthetopographyofthe

AmericanWesthadnotbeenofficiallymappedbeforetheCivilWar.IntheCalifornia

Geologicalsurveyof1863,keygeologicalfeatureswerestillbeingmappedforthefirst

timeoftenwiththeassistanceofnativeguidessketchedandphotographed,surveyed,
 Wickliff21

andmappedbutwithlittleornoregardtoNativeAmericannomenclature.15The

governmentwasanxioustomapthenewlyannexedregionsoftheWesttoaffirmastrong

politicalunionbasedupontheinfluxofprimarilywhiteeasternimmigrants,evenatthe

costofthosealreadyinhabitingtheregion.AtYosemite,CarletonWatkinshad

photographedtheSierralandscapesforaStatesponsoredexpeditionledbyJosiah

DwightWhitneyaftertheareahadbeensetasideforpublicrecreationandusebythe

CivilWarCongressof1864.Oneofthechiefproductsofthatsurveyandits

photographicallyillustratedreport,TheYosemiteBook(1868),wasthemetaphorofthe

valleyasoneofthewildanduniquenaturalwonders,aplacetowhichEasterntourists

shouldcometohavetheirspiritsrenewed(seeFigure136).Becauseitwasatadistance

fromanyurbanareas,itheldoutthepromiseofbecominganattractionwithoutthe

commercialismthathadovertakenNiagaraFalls.Possessionofthevalley,however,

presupposedthesuccessfulremovalofnativeinhabitantswhoatonetimenumberedas

manyasfourhundredandfifty.16TheYosemitearea,intheyearafteritsdiscoveryby

whites,18511852,wasforciblyrendereduninhabited.InWhitneyssurveynarrative,the

expulsionofAmericanIndiansisjustifiedbecauseofconflictswithwhitecultureanda

perceptionthatwhiteprogresswasinevitable.InWhitneysrendition,thebadIndiansare

killedorexiled,whilethegoodIndianassiststheexpeditionteamandisrewardedwitha

topographicalappellationandacaptiontoaphotograph:photograph:

ThewhiteslivingonthestreamswhichheadinthevicinityoftheYosemitehad,in1850,

foundthemselvesunabletoliveinpeacewiththefewscatteredIndiansinthatregion,

andaftersomemurdersandmuchtrouble,amilitarycompanywasformedtodrivethem

outofthecountry.Inthecourseoftheskirmishingandfightingwhichtookplace,itwas
 Wickliff22

ascertainedthattheIndianshadastrongholdorretreatfarupinthemountains,inwhich

theythoughttheycouldtakerefuge,andremainwithouttheslightestdangerofbeing

found.ThisplaceofrefugewastheYosemitevalley,andthiswasthewayitfirstcameto

beheardofbywhitepeople....UndertheguidanceofanoldchiefnamedTenaya,who

nameisperpetuatedinthebeautifullakewhichliesbetweenMt.HoffmannandCathedral

Peak,andinthebranchoftheMercedriverheadinginthatlake(seePlateXXVI)the

partyreachedtheValley,droveouttheIndians,killedafew,andmadepeacewiththe

rest....[Now]thenumberofIndiansactuallyandpermanentlyresidentinandaboutthe

YosemiteortheMariposaGroveisverysmall.Liketherestofthesocalleddiggersin

California,theyareamiserable,degradedandfastdisappearingsetofbeings,whomust

dieoutbeforetheprogressofthewhitemanscivilization,andforwhomthereisneither

hopenorchance17

Inthecaptionsfortheimagesandinthenamesforgeologicalfeaturesprintedon

topographicmaps,governmentallinguisticchoices,howeverodd,carriedtheday.

Examplesarenumerous.ToquoteStephenPowersintheTribesofCalifornia

(California(1877),avolumeofJohnWesleyPowellsContributionstoNorthAmerican

Ethnology,anditselfpartoftheU.S.GeographicalandGeologicalSurveyoftheRocky

MountainRegion:

InthefirstplacetheaboriginesneverknewofanysuchlocalityasYosemiteValley.

Second,thereisnotnowandtherehasnotbeenanythinginthevalleywhichtheycall

Yosemite.Third,theynevercalledOldEphraimhimselfYosemite,noristhereany

suchwordintheMiwoklanguage....Thevalleyhasalwaysbeenknowntothem,andis

tothisday,whenspeakingamongthemselves,asAwani.ThewordYosemiteis

simplyaverybeautifulandsonorouscorruptionofthewordforgrizzlybear....
 Wickliff23

ProfessorWhitneyandMr.Hutchings,intheirrespectiveguidebooks,statethatthey

derivedtheircataloguesofIndiannamesfromwhitemen.TheIndianscertainlyhavea

righttobeheardinthisdepartmentatleast;andwhentheydifferfromtheinterpreters

everyrightthinkingmanwillacceptthestatementofanintelligentaborigineasagainsta

scoreofAmericans.18

Tutokanula,whichbecamethewhitetopographersElCapitan,wasrenderedby

Whitneyasanimitationofthecryofthecrane,,butthenamewastranslatedbyPowers

asthemeasuringwormstone.19AccordingtoPowers,thisimagefigurescentrallyina

triballegendofhowtwosleepingboyswerecarriedintotheskybytheverticallyrising

stoneandthenwererescued,notbytheleapsofthemouse,therat,theraccoon,thebear,

orthelion,butbytheverticalascentofaninsignificantmeasuringworm,whicheven

themousecouldhavecrushedbytreadingonit.20.Inanotherlegend,afteralongdry

journey,awife,Tisseyak,andhusband,Tokoye,cameuponthevalley,thewoman

comingfirsttothelakeAwaia.Shedrankthelakedrybeforeherhusbandarrived.In

anger,hebeatherwithhisstaff,andthensheweptandflungherbasketathim:

Soitbefellthat,evenwhiletheywereinthisattitude,onestandingoveragainsttheother,

facing,theywereturnedtostonefortheirwickedness,andtheretheyhaveremainedto

thisday.Thebasketliesupturnedbesidethehusband,whilethewomansfaceistear

stainedwithlongdarklinestrailingdown.

SouthDomeisthewomanandNorthDomeisherhusband,whilebesidethelatterisa

lowerdomewhichrepresentsthebasket.21

NATURAL RESOURCES

Inadditiontolinguisticandsemioticprojectsrepresentedbyofficialmaps,likethose
 Wickliff24

ofYosemite,theimpositionofgovernmentcontroloftheWestwascarriedoutonan

economicfrontingeologicaldiscussionsofWesternminingindustry,logging,and

agriculture.ThefirstdirectoroftheconsolidatedU.S.GeologicalSurvey,Clarence

King,arguedthattheroleofthesurveywastocreatetextsandtoproduceaseriesof

landmapswhichshouldshowallthosefeaturesuponwhichintelligentagriculturists,

miners,engineers,andtimbermenmighthereafterbasetheiroperations,andwhichwould

obviouslybeofthehighestvalueforallstudentsofthepoliticaleconomyandresources

oftheUnitedStates.22HefocusedfirstupontheminingdistrictsinNevadaand

Coloradolikelytoproducethelargestyieldofpreciousmetals.Hisminingindustry

reporttoCongressalsomadekesitclearthatfromthepointofviewofKing,thesurvey

director,thereportsweretofacilitatethetransferofmineralresourcesinthepublic

domaintoprivateorcorporateownership.Hebelievedhistaskwastofindwaysto

extendthedecliningyieldsoftheComstockLode,thesilverandgolddepositsthathad

playedalargeparttoinspirethedevelopmentoftheWesternrailroadsandtospur

speculatorsandcorporationswestwardeventsthathadjustifiedundertakingthe

geologicalsurveyitselffromthepointofviewofCongress.Easternpublicopinionhad

largelysupportedthesegoals,asabrief1867articleinNewYorkTimesannouncingthe

firstKingexpeditionmadeclear:

[Theregiontobesurveyed]includestheproposedrouteoftheCentralPacificRailroad,

onwhichtheworkisprogressingsorapidly,anditistheobjectoftheGovernmentto

ascertainallthecharacteristicsoftheregionwhichisthustobetraversed.Thelayofthe

landisfirsttobeascertained,andanaccuratemapprepared....Thenthesearchistobe

madeforcoal,thediscoveryofwhichmaybemorevaluabletotherailroadthanagold
 Wickliff25

mine;andforwater,whichinthedeserttrackbetweentheSierraNevadaandtheRocky

Mountainsproper,isnotalwaystobefoundwhenwanted.Theminerals,thefloraand

faunaofthecountry,anditsagriculturalcapacity,arelikewisetobereportedon.Infact,

alloftheworkofnatureinthatwildandunknownregionistobescannedbyshrewdand

highlyeducatedobservers.23

Theearlygeologicalsurveyreportsclearlypresentedtechnicalaspectsofthework

clearly,butoftenminimizedingthehumancosts,asisthecasewithreportsofmining

operations.24Largelyabsentfromthegeologicalsurveyreportsareexpressionsof

concernforthehealthandsafetyofWesternminers,despiteTimothyOSullivans

photographicimagestakenbymagnesiumlightofminersattheirprecariousworkandthe

aftermathofacavein.Theworkingconditionsofanonymousminersarepresentedas

dangerstoattempttoovercomeand,asimpedimentstofullandefficientexploitationof

theminerals:

Byfarthegreatestobstaclehasbeentheheat,whichincreasesabout3degreesFahrenheit

foreveryadditionalhundredfeetsunk,andwhichseemslikelyeventuallytoputanend

tofurthersinking.AccordingtoMr.Church,theamountofairpassingthroughthemines

isnearly300,000cubicfeetaminute,while,exceptatthechangeofshift,thereare

probablynever1,000menbelowground;yettherearefewspotswheretheminerscan

workmorethaneachalternatehourduringtheeighthoursshift,sothatthedoublegangs

torelieveeachotherarepracticallyalwaysnecessary....Tthemenmustalsobe

suppliedwithunlimitedquantitiesoficewaterbothfordrinkingandwashing.Withall

theseunheardofeasements,manymenhavediedfromoverheating,somefromcontact

withscaldingwater....Itissaidthatshortasthehoursoflaborare,thework

accomplishedpermanisasgreatasincoolmines(Becker3Becker34).
 Wickliff26

THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS OF THE WEST

Theannualreports,monographs,andbulletinspublishedbytheUnitedStates

GeologicalSurveyaretheproductsoffouroverlappingsurveysmadebetween1867and

1884threecivilianandonemilitary:1)TheUnitedStatesGeologicalandGeographical

SurveyoftheTerritories(18671878)directedbyF.V.Hayden;2)TheUnitedStates

GeologicalExplorationoftheFortiethParallel(18711878)directedbyClarenceKing;

3)TheUnitedStatesGeographicalandGeologicalSurveyoftheRockyMountainRegion

(18721880)directedbyJohnWesleyPowell;and4)TheUnitedStatesGeographical

SurveysWestoftheOneHundredthMeridian(18691884)directedbyLieut.GeorgeM.

Wheeler.Thepublishedproductsofthesurveyscomprisemorethan100boundvolumes

andanadditional100detailedtopographicmapspublishedseparately.Inall,thebound

volumescontainmorethan46,000pages,includingsome4100illustrations,plates,and

maps.Oftheillustrations,severalhundredarephotomechanicalreproductionsof

photographsorengravingsbaseduponphotographs.Generallypublishedinprintingsof

2000to25,000copies,theseillustratedvolumesbroughttoaprimarilyEasternreadership

imagesofWesternlandscapes,manyimbuedwithvisualmetaphorsforfederally

sponsoredsettlementcoasttocoasttelegraphcommunicationandrailroad

transportation;promisesofanagrarianparadisewithasurplusofnaturalresourcewealth,

especiallymineralsandtimber;theseedsofurbanizedcommerce;thedisplacement,

defeat,oracculturationofAmericanIndianswhomightresist(seeFigure137).

Thegeologicalsurveysarecomplexartifactsofaconfluenceofhistoricalforces.
 Wickliff27

Theyarerhetoricalandpoeticalworks.Textually,theypresentAristotelianrhetorical

argumentsoffactandpolicyaboutnaturalresources,b.Buttheyarealsoillustratedby

photographicimagesthathave,bymoremodernviewers,beenelevatedtothestatusof

artandpointedtoforthefoundationsofWesternAmericanlandscapephotography.They

embodyevidenceofgovernmentalandindividualideologiesdemocratic,capitalist,

scientific,technological,andmythic.Thehugemultivolumetextsfunctioninretrospect

asharbingersofthelongertermeffectsofuseandmisuseofnationalizedresourcesfor

publicandprivategain,asenvironmentalindicesshapedbytheethosaffordedby

ostensiblydisinterestedgovernmentscientists.Theyarerecordsofindividualvisionand

corporateachievement,aswellasofthecollectivelossesofAmericanIndianswhose

claimstolandswereoftencounteredbytheforcesofthefederalgovernmentexecutive,

legislative,andjudicial.

AhistoryofWesternexpansionintheUnitedStatesiscriticaltounderstandingthe

geologysurveysincontext.Thesurveysinmanywayswereanefforttoadd,

retrospectively,scientificethostotheenterpriseofWesternresettlementthathadtaken

placebetween1803and1849.AtleastthreevisionsfortheAmericanWesthad

competedfordominationinthefirsthalfofthenineteenthcentury,beginningwith

ThomasJeffersonspurchaseoftheLouisianaTerritoryin1803thatofavastpotential

furtradesecuredwiththecooperationoftheIndians;thatIndians;thatofaJeffersonian

farmersparadiseofindependent,egalitarianhomesteads;andthatremnantofColumbian

motiveofacommercialtraderoutetotheFarEast.East.ButasHowardLamarhas

noted,thesethreevisionsweretoprovecontradictory,becauseDevelopingafurtrade
 Wickliff28

meantpreservingIndiantribesandthewilderness;settlingthevastLouisianaPurchase

withfarmersmeantIndiandisplacementorassimilationandanendtowilderness;

developingcommercethreatenedthestatusofbothIndiansandfarmers.25

Aslateas1822itappearedthattheWestmightendureasagiganticgamereservefor

thefurtrappinginterests.Inthatyear,underpressurefromJohnJacobAstorandotherfur

traders,Congressabandoneditspolicyofonlypermittinggovernmentdesignatedagents

tomaintaintradingpostsinIndiancountry,westoftheMississippi.Theresulting

competitionpittedcompaniesagainstoneanothertoexploittheanimalrichesofthe

UpperMissouriRiver.From1822to1840,anestimatedthreethousandAmerican

trappersexploredthefarreachesoftheWest.26InremoteOregon,theHudsonsBay

CompanydeterminedtokeepAmericanfurtrappersoutbypursuingascorchedearth

policybytrappingsomanyanimalsintheinterior,inpresentdayeasternWashington,

Oregon,andIdaho,thatAmericanswouldnotcomeintothearea.27Thispolicywas

continueduntil1845.

In1836,thecycleofviolenceanddisplacementthathad,withdisease,ledtothe

depopulationofNativeAmericansintheEastwasrenewedwestoftheMississippi.First,

theTreatyofNewEchota,cedingitsterritoryintheSoutheastandmovingWest,was

ratifiedbytheSenateinMarch,althoughitwasnotapprovedbytheCherokeeNational

Counciloritsleadingchief.TheninAprilofthatyeartheAmericanWestwasredefined

bythevictoryofSamHoustonandhisforcesoverSantaAnnastroopsintheBattleof

SanJacinto.TheestablishmentoftheindependentrepublicofTexas,andthentenyears

later,itsadmissiontotheUnionasastate,heraldedalegacyofviolenceingovernment
 Wickliff29

expansionWestoftheMississippi.InTexas,Americanstooktheterritoryofanother

countrybyviolence,arguingatthesametimethatManifestDestinywastobring

freedomtobenightedpeoples,yetAmericansnotonlydeniedfreedomtoTexan

Mexicansbutallowedslaverytocontinuetoexistthere.28WhenMexicorefusedto

recognizeAmericanannexationofTexas,theensuingwarledtotheacquisitionofyet

moreterritoryfortheUnitedStatesandtothecompromiseof1850inwhichCalifornia

wasadmittedasafreestatewhileNewMexicoandUtahbecameterritorieswithout

referencetoslavery,includingtheareasthatwouldbecomeArizona,Nevada,andpartof

Colorado.WhenthegeographicalboundariesoftheAmericanWestreachedtothe

Pacific,competitionremainedamongbetweenvisionsforthedominantresourceuseof

theregion.

ItwasJamesWilsonMarshall,acarpenteremployedbyJohnSuttertoinconstructing

asawmillatColoma,CaliforniainJanuaryof1848,whosediscoveryofgoldinthe

millracesoonshiftedthebalanceofpoweramongthecompetingvisionsoftheWest.

WhenitwasdeterminedthatgreatamountsofplacergoldexistedinCaliforniastreams,

morethanninetythousand90,000peoplecametoCaliforniain1849tocapitalizeonthe

miningwealthoftheregion;200,000.Twohundredthousandmorehadarrivedby1860.

Jeffersonsimageofanagrarianempirehadlargelybeensupplantedbyadreamofthe

WestasEldoradoamineralempireawaitingexploitation.Simultaneously,thegrowth

ofSanFranciscoasaportmarkedthebeginningofanurbancultureintheCalifornia,and

itraisedtotheforefronttheissuesoftranscontinentalcommunicationsandtransportation.

BythetimeoftheU.S.GeologicalSurveysoftheWest,railroadswererecognizedas
 Wickliff30

centraltothedevelopmentofnewcommercialcenters,includingLosAngelesandSanta

Monica:

ItwillbeseenthattheoutgoingconnectionsfromLosAngelesareplentiful,andthatitis

likelytobecomeaprominentpointuponthethroughlineoftransitsosoonasthe

SouthernPacificshallhaveconnecteditslineofroadfromSanFranciscototheColorado

River.ThedistancefromLosAngelestoSantaMonicabyrailis121/2miles,andatthe

latterpointalittletownhassprungup,consequentupontheadvantagesofcommercial

relations,transitofsupplies,&c....29

BytheendoftheCivilWarandthesubsequentcommencementofthefederal

geologicalsurveys,themetaphoroftheWestasasourceofnaturalresourcewealthfor

commerceseemeddominant,whilethenotionofagricultureintheWesternU.S.,thebulk

ofwhichPowellwastodefineasanaridregion,shiftedinemphasisfrom160acre160

acrefamilyfarmstocorporateranchesthatexportedcattletotheEastforconsumption.

Bythe1870s,thefurtradehadlargelysuccumbedtoitsownexcessestoandtheforcesof

developmentthatwererapidlyalteringnaturalhabitats,eveninremoteregionsofthe

RockyMountainsand,eveninYellowstone,whichbecametheworldsfirstnationalpark

1872.In1875,GeneralW.E.StrongandpartyofmilitaryofficersthatincludedGeneral

WilliamWorthBelknap,PresidentU.S.Grantssecretaryofwar,travelledto

Yellowstonetohuntandfishfortwomonths.Strongsdiarylamentsthatthreeyearsafter

theareahadbeensetasideforwildernesspreservation,poachersweredecimatingthe

game:

In1870,whenLieutenantDoanefirstenteredtheYellowstoneBasin,itwaswithout

doubtacountryunsurpassedonthiscontinentforbiggame....Duringthepastfive
 Wickliff31

yearsthelargegamehasbeenslaughteredherebyprofessionalhuntersbythousands,and

fortheirhidesalone.Whenthesnowfallsandthefiercewinterstormsbeginin

NovemberandDecember,theelk,deer,andsheepleavethesummitsofthesnowyranges

andcomeingreatbandstothefoothillsandvalleys,wheretheyaremetandshotdown

shamefullybythesemercilesshumanvultures.Anelkskinisworthfromsixtoeight

dollars,anditissaidthatwhenthesnowisdeep,andaherdgetsconfused,onehunter

willfrequentlykillfromtwentyfivetofiftyofthesenobleanimalsinasingleday.Over

fourthousandwerekilledlastwinterbyprofessionalhuntersintheMammothSprings

Basinalone(105).30

Likewise,mostofthenativeculturesthathadsustainedthemselvesupongameand

agriculturalpracticeshadalreadybeeneconomicallyormilitarilysubduedanddisplaced

bythetimeofthegeologicalsurveys.Insomecasescases,southwesterncultureslikethe

ZuniandHopithathadpersistedinoneareaforamillenniumwithoutexhaustingthe

resourcesofthelandscape,werequicklydisruptedordestroyedbyepidemicdisease,

militarycampaigns,andtheforcesofacculturation.ButwhiletheApachesremained

defiantinthe1870s,mostNativeAmericanshadbeenremovedtoreservationswhere

theyweresubjectedtopressurestoassimilatethemselvestothewhiteculturein

religion,education,modesofdress,architecture,agriculture.Forthosewhoavoidedthe

reservation,theoncevastAmericanWestmusthaveseemedtobeshrinkingfast,and

evenfromthepointofviewoftheethnographer,Powell,theprimaryoptionswere

presentedasassimilationordeathinthefaceoftheadvanceofEasterntechnologyand

culture.Powellredirectsblameawayfromthefederalgovernmenttomakeaconvoluted

argumentforIndianremoval.InPowellslogic,itistheresistant,vain,andgreedy
 Wickliff32

natives,likethepoachersofYellowstone,whohavebecometheprincipleabusersofthe

otherwiseinexhaustiblenaturalresourcesoftheWestandthetimberisdescribedasmore

essentialthantheIndians:

Ingeneralitmaybestatedthatthetimberregionsarefullyadequatetothegrowthofall

theforestswhichtheindustrialinterestsofthecountrywillrequireiftheycanbe

protectedfromdesolationbyfire.Nolimitationtotheuseoftheforestsneedbemade.

Theamountwhichthecitizensofthecountrywillrequirewillbearbutasmallproportion

totheamountwhichthefireswilldestroy....InthemainthesefiresaresetbyIndians.

Drivenfromthelowlandsbyadvancingcivilization,theyresorttothehigherregionsuntil

theyareforcedbackbythedeepsnowsofwinter.Want,causedbytherestrictedareato

whichtheyresortforfood;thedesireforluxuriestowhichtheywerestrangersintheir

primitivecondition,andespeciallythedesireforpersonaladornment,togetherwitha

supplyofmoreeffectiveinstrumentsforhuntingandtrapping,haveinlateyears,during

therapidsettlementofthecountrysincethediscoveryofgoldandthebuildingof

railroads,greatlystimulatedthepursuitofanimalsfortheirfursthewealthand

currencyofthesavage.Ontheirhuntingexcursionstheysystematicallysetfirestoforests

forthepurposeofdrivingthegame....Thefirescan,then,beverygreatlycurtailedby

theremovaloftheIndians(18).

TherewereotherswhorecognizedthatWesternresources,oratleastWesterntimber

lands,wereinsufficienttosurvivethepressureofuncheckeddevelopment.Butthat

minorityargumentforsustainabledevelopment,likethatofC.F.Reed,Presidentofthe

CaliforniaStateArgiculturalAgriculturalSocietyfor186869,wasunpopularandlargely

unheeded:

WehavebecomesoaccustomedtospeakoftheforestsofourState,ofourbigtrees,as
 Wickliff33

thegrandestandmostmajesticintheworld;wehearsomuchofthevastquantitiesof

timberandlumberbeingshippedfromthoseforests,tosupplythenationsoftheearth

withmastsandotherheavytimbersforshipbuildingandotherpurposes,thatwehave

thoughtlesslycomeregardoursupplyofthesematerialsandofmaterialsforfuelas

inexhaustible.Thefactsarequitedifferent....Itisnowbuttwentyyearssincethe

consumptionoftimberandlumbercommencedinCalifornia,andyetwehavethe

opinionofgoodjudges,thebestlumberdealersintheState,thatatleastonethirdofall

ofouraccessibletimberofvalueisalreadyconsumedanddestroyed.Ifwewereto

continuetheconsumptionanddestructionatthesamerateinthefutureasinthepast,it

wouldrequireonlyfortyyearsthereforetoexhaustourpresentsupply....Inthetwenty

yearstocomewewillprobablymorethandoubleourpopulation. 31

Writteninacontextofadiminishingfurtrade,oftheincreasingagriculturemade

possiblebyirrigationinthelargelyaridWest,andinaneraofnewfoundmineralogical

wealth,thegeologicalsurveydocumentsareAristotelianargumentsoffactwrittenby

governmentsponsoredscientistsanddirectedprimarilyatEasterncapitalistsandtheir

representativesinCongress.TheirauthorssoughttodefinetheWestinthetermsmost

persuasiveforthataudience.AmericanIndiansknowledgeofWesternresources,the

geographicalnomenclatureoftheiroraltraditions,eventheirwrittenclaimsbytreatyto

vastareasoflandintheWest,werediscountedinthelargerculturalconflict.Itseems

thatnativeknowledgeofresourceswasvaluedonlysolongasitwasexpedientforthe

policiesofthefederalgovernmentandEasterncapitalists;,thatis,solongasfurtrading

wasperceivedasthemostviablelanduse,orsolongasthesurveysexpeditionaryforces

neededguides:
 Wickliff34

Itisalmostimpossibletoobtainwhiteguideswhohaveanyaccurateknowledgeofthe

regionssensiblynew,whilehardlyanynookorcornercanbefoundnotwellknownto

theIndian;henceintheselectionofsuitablecampingplaces,andasassistantstoanatural

guide,ortoawhitemanwhoshallexercisejudgmentastothemovementofthe

command,theirservicescanbeveryvaluable. 32

ButwiththediscoveryofWesternmineralwealthandthesubsequentgovernment

sponsoredsurveys,thecurrencyofmostvaluableknowledgechanged,andscientific

certaintyaboutgeologicalformationsbecamethebasisforthemostimportantWestern

argumentsoffactandpolicy.Whereisthegold?Whereisthesilver?Andwiththe

expansionwestwardofthetelegraphandtelephoneandtheconsequenttheneedfor

millionsofmilesofwire,whereisthecopper?Whereisthecoalandwaterandironfor

therailroads?Andlateryet,whereistheoil?Whatarethecorrelationsbetweennatural

historiesandthesevaluablegeologicalformations?Howshouldmineralresourcesbest

mined,smelted,andtransported?Whatotherresources,animalsorplants,mightbe

availablethatareofvaluetoEasterncapitalistsormajormuseums?Howmightawork

forcebetransportedandmaintainedneartheresources?Fromthesurveyauthorspoint

ofview,suchquestionsneededanswers.Resourcesneededtobelocatedpreciselytobe

exploitedefficientlybythegrowingrepublic,andsonewdetailedmapsoftheWest,

especiallyofminingregions,hadtobedrawn.Geographicalfeaturesinunfamiliar

regions,oftenlocatedwiththeassistanceofNativeAmericans,hadtobeidentifiedwith

namesthatshouldsignifytotheEasternreadersofthemaps,supplantingnative

nomenclatureasWhitneyhadatYosemitewithhissummaryjustificationthatnames

givenbyearlywhitesettlerstotheregionhaveentirelyreplacedthenativeones;andthey
 Wickliff35

are,ingeneral,quitesufficientlyeuphoniousandproper.33Previouslandgrantsmadeto

NativeAmericanshadtoberenegotiatedorlegallynullifiedthroughlegislative,judicial,

ormilitaryinitiatives,inordertoredefinelegaluseoftheregionsmineralwealth,

timber,andbestsoils.

Ifthevolumesofthegeologicalsurveysrhetoricallysucceededinredefiningthe

WestforanaudienceofEasternreadersinterestedintheprospectsforinvestmentand

emigration,theyalsosucceededasphotoillustratedtexts,atleastasmuchbecauseofthe

hopefulcolonizingideologytheyembodiedthroughasofthephotographicartistryof

theircameraoperators.ThetextspresentedtoanEasternreadershipboundimagesof

landscapessetoffwithsuggestionsofpromise,bothspiritualandmaterialofrivers

andmountainpeakssurmountedbyAmericanwillandcourage,oftechnologicalfeats

likethetranscontinentalrailroad.Theysimultaneouslypresentandcelebrateatthesame

timenaturallandscapesoftremendousmountains,waterfalls,canyons,andforests,while

showcasinganewvernaculararchitectureofWesternenterprise:,ofminesandsmelting

furnaces,offarmsteadsanddevelopingcommunities,ofrailroads,trestles,tunnels,

bridges,andforts.Astextswithboundphotographsandengravings,theyreflectthe

powerofthetechnologyofphotographytoarresttimeandspace,tobringthedistant

near,theWesttotheEast,withtremendousverisimilituderealism.Thesurveyparties

soughtoutandpresentedthebestnaturalobjectsworthyofviewbytouristsprimarily

urbanizedEasternersinsearchofnovelnature,ofunfamiliarlandscapes,andof

unfamiliarbeauties,whowerereadytoconsumesuchimages.Andtheyhistoricizeand

sentimentalizethelivingAmericanIndianculturesintheircatalogsofpresumablydying
 Wickliff36

languagesandtraditions,theirculturalassimilationinconventionallyposedportraitsof

pacificchiefsandtheirfollowers,andinimagesofnativearchitectureandartifacts.

VISIONS OF THE SURVEY DIRECTORS

Evenasthevolumesofthegeologicalsurveyreflectbroadfederalgovernment

valuesoftheperiod,theyalsorepresenttheaestheticandrhetoricalviewsofthesurvey

directors.FerdinandVandeveerHayden,DirectorofTheUnitedStatesGeologicaland

GeographicalSurveyoftheTerritories(18671878),wasaprofessorofmineralogyand

geologyattheUniversityofPennsylvania,astaunchadvocateofWesternexpansion,and

someonemovedbythepowerofphotography.In1870,Congressappropriated$20,000

forthesurveyhedirected,whichincludedfundstoretainaphotographer.Hayden

recruitedapreviouslyuncelebratedOmahaphotographer,WilliamHenryJackson,forthe

expedition.Inthesameyear,HaydenpublishedaWesterntravelogueillustratedwith

thirtyphotographstakenbyA.J.RussellfortheUnionPacificRailroadCompanySun

PicturesofRockyMountainScenerywithadescriptionofthegeographicaland

geologicalfeatures,andsomeaccountoftheresourcesoftheGreatWest;containing

thirtyphotographicviewsalongthelineofthePacificRailRoad,fromOmahato

Sacramento(1870).Haydenarguedthatphotographyprovidedthenearestapproachtoa

truthfuldelineationofnature,thatTheGreatWestwasripeforsettlementand

developmentwhiletheAtlanticCoast,withitscrowdedpopulation,itsrefined

civilization,itsgreatcities,itsseatsoflearningandindustrialoperations,formsonlya

fringeontheeasternborderofthisvastcontinent.34Amongthephotographsheselected

forthevolumeisoneoftheemergingurbanareasnearSaltLakeCitythatseemedsto
 Wickliff37

unitethevaluesofharmoniousagricultural,industrial,andurbandevelopmentofthe

West(seeFigure138):

BrighamYoungswoolenmillsappearintheforeground....Thispicturealsopresentsa

closeviewofaportionofthevalleywithitscultivatedfieldsandfarmhousesandthe

abrupt,walllikecharacterofthemountainrangesthatsurroundit....Originallythearea

nowoccupiedbythisbeautifulcitywasasageplainwithoutatree,orshrubbutthewild

sage,andwitheveryindicationofsterility.Now,elegantgardenswithabundantfruitand

shadetreessurroundfinedwellings,andalongeachsideofthebroadstreetsisafine

streamofmountainwater,borderedwitharowofflourishingshadetrees(125).

OtherimagesthatHaydenselectedforSunPictureslaudedtechnologicalvictories

overnatureevenmoreforcefully.RussellsphotographofDonnerPassdoesnotlament

thetragedyofimmigrationthattookplacethere,nordoesitemphasizenatures

beneficenceintheWesternAmericanlandscapeasdidAlbertBierstadtspainting,

DonnerLakefromtheSummit,1873.ButratherRussellsphotographcelebrates,in

Haydensinterpretation,theabilityofengineerstoconquerthis,thehighestmountain

passonthelineofthefirsttranscontinentalrailroad(seeFigure139):

Ourillustrationconveysaclearideaofthesuccessionofsnowshedsandtunnelsthrough

whichtheCentralPacificRailroadrunsincrossingtheSierraNevada.Thetunnelsare13

innumber,andthelargestisthenearthesummit,morethan7,000feetabovethesea.Itis

1,659feetthroughmassivegranite....Thesnowshedsaresubstantialstructures,built

ofsawedandroundtimber,atacostof$10,000permile.Thereare40milesofthese

shedsnowcompleted,andtheyaresoconstructedthattheimmenseavalanches,whichso

oftenslidedownthesidesofmountainsinthespring,passoverthemandfallintothe

chasmsbelow(134).35
 Wickliff38

Similarly,intheimageoftheerosivepowerofahydraulicgoldminingoperation,

Haydenfindsprimarilyanimageofwealthcapitalexpendedandrecoupedby

Americanentrepreneurs,withlittleornothingtolamentinthealteredlandscape(see

Figure140):

AsthetravelerdescendsthewesternslopeoftheSierraNevada,hewillseeoneitherside

oftherailroadthemostremarkableexhibitionsofhydraulicgoldmininginAmerica....

Miningditchescanbeseenoneveryside,conveyinglargeandrapidstreamsofwaterin

longnarrowflumes(ortelegraphs,astheyarecalledbytheminers)overtheclaimstobe

worked.Totheflumeisconnectedahosebywhichthewateristhrownagainstthebanks

ofsandandgravelwithgreatpower,washingdownareasofgravelfrom100to300feet

inthickness.Manymilesoftheseditchesandflumeshavebeenbuiltinthesemining

regionsandthesurfaceofthecountryentirelychanged;onelargeditchwasconstructed

atacostofamillionofdollars(134).

ClarenceKingwasatwentyfiveyearoldtwentyfiveyearoldgraduateoftheYale

SheffieldSchoolofScienceandaveteranofWhitneysearlierGeologicalSurveyof

CaliforniawhenhewasappointeddirectorofTheUnitedStatesGeologicalExploration

oftheFortiethParallel(18671878).Hewasromanticinhisvisionofspiritualized

nature,andalthoughhecamefromanimpoverishedfamily,Kingwasaselfappointed

aristocratwhowould,wearetold,evenintheremotecampsitesofthegeologicalsurvey

party,dressfordinnerifanyvisitor,evenawonderingminer,wouldvisit.36Kingwas

knownandlikedbywealthyandinfluentialmenintheEast,includingHenryAdams,

AlbertBierstadt,andJohnHay.Kinghimselfmadeandlostafortunespeculatingin

Mexicanmining.Hewastheauthorofacelebratednarrativeofhisexplorationsofthe
 Wickliff39

SierraMountainsthathadbegunin1863MountaineeringintheSierraNevada(1872),

aworkthatcelebrateswithVictorianexcesshisromanticidealofselfreliantheroism.37

Forhisgeologicalwork,KingrecognizedtherhetoricalvalueofTimothy

OSullivansphotography,andasanunflaggingoptimist,putinhisreportsthebestface

ontheU.S.miningindustrythathismethodologywouldallow.Astheproductionofthe

Comstocklodebegantofalloffdramatically,Kingexpressedhopesforarevivalofthe

previousdecadesprofits:

Nevada.TheproductionofthisStateshowsaconsiderabledecline,ascomparedwiththat

theprecedingsixyears.Thisisnotduetoanygeneralfallingoffintheprosperityofthe

miningindustryoftheState,buttothedecreaseintheyieldoftheleadingsource,the

Comstocklode....Withtheyieldoftheoutsidedistrictsmaintainedattheexistingrate

ofproduction,animportantdiscoveryoforeintheComstockwouldperhapsraise

Nevadaagaintothefirstrank.Andevenwithoutstrikingnewdevelopments,thereisstill

areserveoflowgradeoreandtailingsremainingunworked,sufficienttogivealargeand

steadyproductformanyyearstocome(KingProduction346). 38

Ofthefoursurveydirectors,onlyJohnWesleyPowell,theCivilWarMajorwholost

anarmatthebattleofShiloh,directlyconfrontedtheissueofthelimitstogrowthand,of

finiteresourcesintheAmericanWest.LessconsumedthanHaydenorKingbythe

interestsoftheminingindustry,PowellsoughttoadapttheJeffersonianidealofan

agrariandemocracytotherealitiesofthelargelyaridWest.Inhismonograph,Landsof

theAridRegion(1879),henotonlydefinedtheregionprimarilyintermsofitswater

resourcesratherthanitsmineralwealth,buthealsoproposedaspecificlegislativeagenda

forthedistributionofwaterrightsandirrigationprivileges.Herecognizedthatinorderto
 Wickliff40

supportthepopulationofimmigrantsfromtheEastwhoweremovingintotheWest,

sustainableagriculturalpracticeswereneededsothat,asheputit,theselandsmay

eventuallyberescuedfromtheirpresentworthlessstate.39Hearguedthatthearidregion

includesmorethanfortypercentofthecontinentalU.S.andhedividedtheregioninto

threeclassesirrigablelands,timberlands,andpasturagelands.Heproposed

definitionsforappropriatelanduseforeachclass.Heacknowledgedthattheirrigable

landswerebutasmallpercentageoftheregionandarguedthatonlythelargerstreams

shouldbeusedviawhathetermedcooperativelabor:

Ifstreamscouldbeusedalongtheupperramificationswhiletheseveralbranchesareyet

small,poormencouldoccupythelands,andbytheindividualenterprisetheagriculture

ofthecountrywouldbegraduallyextendedtothelimitofthecapacityoftheregion;but

whenfarmingisdependentuponlargerstreamssuchmenarebarredfromthese

enterprisesuntilcooperativelaborcanbeorganizedorcapitalinducedtoassist.Before

manyyearsalltheavailablesmallerstreamsthroughouttheentireregionwillbeoccupied

inservingthelands,andthenallfuturedevelopmentwilldependontheconditions

describedabove....InUtahTerritorycooperativelabor,underecclesiastical

organization,hasbeenverysuccessful.OutsideofUtahtherearebutfewinstanceswhere

ithasbeentried...(11).40

Powellbelievedthatthetimberlandscouldprovideenoughsustainableyieldsto

supplythenation,providedthatforestfirescouldbelargelypreventedagoalthat

warranted,inhismind,theremovalofthenativeswhohebelievedoftenstartedfiresin

pursuitofgame.Becauseingeneralhebelievedthetimbertobetoofarfromthe

agriculturallandstobeusedbythosewhoneededittoconstructirrigationworks,he
 Wickliff41

arguedforthedivisionoflaborintheregion,andthedevelopmentofspecialtimber

industries.41Andbecauseheacknowledgedthatthegrassesonpasturagelandsinthe

Westwerescant,hearguedthatthesizeofthefarmunitparceledoutbythegovernment

shouldnotbe160acres,butnotlessthan2,560acres,withdivisionsbeingcontrolled

bythetopographyofwatersheds,insuchmannerastogivethegreatestnumberofwater

frontstothepasturagefarms,andthattheresidencesofpasturagefarmsshouldbe

grouped,inordertosecurethebenefitsoflocalsocialorganizations,andcooperationin

publicimprovements.42

LieutenantGeorgeM.WheelerbecamedirectorofTheUnitedStatesGeographical

SurveysWestoftheOneHundredthMeridian(18691884),theoneexplicitlymilitary

operationoffourearlygeologicalsurveys.Inhisgeologicalsurveyreportssubmittedto

Congress,Wheelerwasquicktopointtothethreattoresourceexploitationimpliedbythe

persistenceofIndiantribesoutsideofreservationboundaries.Inshort,heattemptedto

justifyacontinuedifnotincreasedroleforthepostCivilWarU.S.militaryintheWest.

TheIndiansofArizonahaveneverbeenmadetofeelthattheyhadanymasterbeyond

theirownwillforawildandBohemianlife.Nocontinuousconcentrationofforcehas

beendirectedtotheirracheriasandvillages,theretomeetandteachthemthattheymust

giveuptheirhabitsofviolenceandmurder,orsubmittotheinevitablefateof

destruction....LettheIndianpolicyofthisGovernmentbewhatitmay,theIndian

questioninArizonawillneverbesettleduntilthecampaignsofanenergeticofficershall

thoroughlywhipandsubduethem.43

InWheelerssummaryoftheproductivityofWesternminingdistricts,hecatalogs

notonlyreportsoftheores,butthecostoflabor,thesupplyofgrainandtimberavailable,
 Wickliff42

thenumberofinhabitants,schoolsandstores,theavailabilityofgame,andinvariably,the

numberofIndiansremaininginthedistrict.

ICONS OF THE AMERICAN WEST

Muchoftherhetoricalpowerandperhapsalmostalloftheartisticvalueofthe

geologicalsurveydocumentsresidesintheircopiousillustrations,whether

photomechanicalreproductionsorengravingsbaseduponphotographs.Theseimagesin

manywaysrecapitulatereiteratethethemesofnaturalresourcedevelopmentespousedin

thesurveyreports,butwiththeaddedtechnologicalforceofphotography,theimplicit

assertionofaclaimfortruth,andtheremarkablepersistenceofthemomentaryscene.In

WhitneysYosemiteBook,CarletonWatkinsassembledsomeofthefirstimagesofthe

bigtreesandgeologicalformationsofthevalley.44Yosemiteandthebigtreessoon

becamephotographicicons,evidenceoftheexuberanceofnatureintheWest(seeFigure

134).Priorto1885,anestimated12,000to15,000stereocardphotographsweremadeof

Yosemiteandthebigtrees,whileatthesametimefewerthan2500weremadeofIndian

lifeandhabits.45Inawaythatrevealsthecontradictionsofthetime,thebigtreeswere

consideredbothobjectsofaweandpotentialresourcesforcommerce.GeorgeGale

strippedoffthebarkofoneofthetreescalledMotheroftheForest,andshippeditEast

inanattempttoturncuriosityintotoprofits,butisseemedstheviewingpublic

disbelievedthatatreethatlargeexisted.46AppreciationsoftheGeneralShermantree

includedthefactthatitcontainedsixhundredthousandboardfeetenoughtobuild

45fortyfiveroomhouses.47

Inthiscontext,thenarrativeimplicitinWatkinsimageiscomplex.The1863
 Wickliff43

photographisofthetreenamedtheGrislyGiantbythesameearlywhitesettlerswho

namedtheotherfeaturesofthevalley.Itisclearwearetobeimpressedbythesizeofthe

tree,itsheightandgirth,itsimplicitage,anditsvalueasanaturalwonder.Butthe

photographalsoprovidesanadditionalnarrative;t.Thephotographerhastraveledthere

successfully,fromagreatdistance,andarrivedsafely.Aminutehumanfigurestandsat

easeunderthetree,unthreatened,protectedbytheirownresourcefulnessandthe

governmentthatwill,in1864,setasidetheareaforpreservationbytheStateof

California.Andthen,ybymakingtheimage,thephotographerandsubjectimplicitly

claimownership,notindividually,butcorporatelyornationally.TheyareAmericans

receivingtheblessingsofnature,bothspirituallyandmaterially.

MuchofthesamecanbesaidforWilliamBellsstereoviewfromthe1872

ExplorationsWestofthe100thMeridian,commandedbyLieutenantGeorgeM.Wheeler

(seeFigure141).48WilliamBell,formerlyaphotographerwiththeArmyMedical

Museum,hadbecomepartofthegeologicalsurveyparty.Inthisimage,Bellcapturesthe

silhouetteofanothermemberofthesurveypartyatworkbehindanothercamera.While

thesmallphotographerappearsdwarfedinthecontextoftheGrandCanyon,thelarger

narrativeissuppliedbytheknowledgethataphotographerreturnedwiththeimage.

Whiletherestofthesurveypartydoesnotintheimage,theviewerunderstandsthatthe

cameraisatechnologicalemblemsoftheexpedition,broughttothisremotelocationin

animplicitcontestbetweenmenandnature,acontestwonbythephotographerwho

couldbothtraveltoandfromthereandsecuresuchanimageonaglassplatenegative.

AnotherexamplefromtheGeologicalSurveysisJohnK.Hillersimageoftwo
 Wickliff44

boats,theCanonitaandtheEmmaDean,fromPowellssecondexpeditionthroughthe

GrandCanyon(seeFigure142).49Whilethesmallcraftappearedalmostuselessinthe

contextoftherockycanyon,thelargernarrativeissuppliedbytheknowledgethatthe

photographerreturnedwiththisimage,overcomingthecanyoninsuchafrailcraft.While

noneofthesurveypartyappearintheimage,theviewerunderstandsthattheboatsare

productsofmodernAmericancivilization,broughttothisremotelocationinanimplicit

contestbetweenmenandnature,acontestwonbythephotographerwhocouldboth

traveltoandfromthereandsecuresuchanimageonaglassplatenegative.An

engraving,drawnbyThomasMoran,anothermemberoftheexpedition,andengravedby

H.H.Nichols,wasmadefromthephotographandappearedintheboundgeological

surveyreportbyC.E.Dutton,ThePhysicalGeologyoftheGrandCanyonDistrict.

Moranhasheightenedthedramaofthephotographevenfurtherbyshiftingthe

perspectivetoincludedistantcanyonrimandaluminousWesternsky.Alonevulture

hoversthere,emblematicofthedeaththatcouldhavecometomembersoftheexpedition

astheysoughttobringknowledgeoftheregiontoEasternreaders.

WilliamHenryJacksonsphotographsofYellowstoneincludedimages,thatin1872,

helpedtoconvinceCongresstosetasidetheareaasaNationalPark.50Inimageslikethe

CrateroftheCastleGeyser,thelandscapeheremusthaveappearedotherworldlyto

Easternviewerswiththescaleofthegiganticcrateremphasizedbyforegroundingit.Just

aswithHillersphotographsfromthePowellexpedition,viewersrecognizethatthe

photographerofthesurveypartyhadputhimselfatsomeimplicitriskinthepursuitof

scienceandarttosharetheimagewithanEasternreadershipaariskthatwaswas
 Wickliff45

successfullysurmountedasthephotographspublication,againasanengraving,

suggests.Butimagesalsoembodycontradictions.Theirsubjectsareperhapsspiritually

valuable,whileinlargemeasure,theCongressionalargumentforpreservingYellowstone

hadbeenthat,asidefromitsvalueasacuriosity,theregionwasuseless:

Theentireareacomprisedwithinthelimitsofthereservationcontemplatedinthisbillis

notsusceptibleofcultivationwithanydegreeofcertainty,andthewinterswouldbetoo

severeforstockraising....Thesemountainsareallofvolcanicorigin,anditisnot

probablethatanyminesormineralsofvaluewilleverbefoundthere....Inafewyears

thisregionwillbeaplaceofresortforallclassesofpeoplefromallportionsoftheworld.

...Ifthisbillfailstobecomelawthissession,thevandalswhoarenowwaitingtoenter

intothiswonderlandwill,inasingleseason,despoil,beyondrecovery,theseremarkable

curiosities,whichhaverequiredallthecunningskillofnaturethousandsofyearsto

prepare.51

AnotherphotographbyTimothyOSullivan,thecelebratedCivilWarphotographer

andformerapprenticetoMatthewBrady,serveswelltosummarizedthecorrespondence

betweenvisualandtextualrhetoricinthegeologicalsurveys.Theimagerevealshow

incipientindustryandcommerceappearedinaminingcommunitythesmeltingworks

atTheGouldandCurryMill,VirginiaCity,Nevada(seeFigure143).Itisanimageof

impressiveorder,ofaversionofEasternarchitectureimposedonalargescaleuponan

otherwisedesolateWesternlandscapeofscrubandstone.Theprofitabilityofthe

enterpriseissuggestedbythenumberofbuildings,theirsize,andevenbythenumberof

smokestacks,indicativeofthescaleofthelaborswithin.Obscuredbybuildingsinthe

foregroundhere,butvisibleinotherphotographsofthemineisalargewhitehousethat
 Wickliff46

suggestsacomfortabledomesticityforthedirectoroftheoperations.Industrynotonly

persists,butseemstothrivehere,inanaridregionwherelittleelseseemstohavethrived

before.Again,thepossessorsoftherequisitetechnologyhavebentnaturetotheirwill.

Figure144presentspanoramicphotographofLeadvilleandtheMusquitoRange,

probablybyOSullivanorperhapsJohnK.Hillers.ItaccompaniesSamuelFranklin

Emmonsmonograph,GeologyandMiningIndustryofLeadville,Colorado(1886),in

whichthecommunityisdescribedastheacmeofColoradocivilization:

WithintwoyearsLeadvillegrewtobethesecondcityintheState,with15,000

inhabitantsandassessablepropertyoffrom$8,000,000to$30,000,000.In1880ithad28

milesofstreets,whichwereinpartlightedbygasatanexpenseof$5,000perannum.It

hadwaterworks,tosupplyallthebusinessportionofthecity,havingoverfivemilesof

pipelaid.Ithad13schools,presidedoverby16teachers,andanaverageattendanceof

1,100....In1880$1,400,000wereexpendedinnewbuildingandimprovements.Ithad

14smelters,withanaggregateof37shaftfurnaces,ofwhich24wereinactiveoperation

duringthecensusyear,anditsproducingminesmayberoughlyestimatedat30(1415).

Thatthelandscapehadbeendenudedoftimbergoeswithoutmentionherewhile

revealingitselfalltooplainlyinthephotograph.Thelossofonenaturalresourcewasthe

costofexploitinganother.InalatersurveyreportontheGeologyoftheEurekaDistrict

(1892)ArnoldHaguedescribedascenemuchlikeonepresentedhere:

Today,sogreathasbeenthedemandforwoodandcharcoalinthereductionofleadores,

thatthemountainsareasbareoftreesasanypartoftheGreatBasin.Severalspeciesof

pines,dwarfedjunipers,andmountainmahogany,whichattainsaheightofover20feet,

are,orratherwere,theprevailingtrees,butarenowfoundonlyinafewareaspreserved
 Wickliff47

bytheirownersforfutureuse,atnodistantday.NotonlyhavetheEurekaMountainslost

theirforests,buttheneighboringmountainsforlongdistanceshavebeendevastatedto

furnishfuelforthesmeltingfurnaces.Someideamaybeobtainedoftheenormous

consumptionofwoodfromthestatementthat10,000bushelsofcharcoalarerequired

dailyforthesmeltingfurnaceswhentheworksarerunningtheirusualforce,andthatfor

fiveorsixyearsthedailyconsumptionwasratheroverthanunderthatamount. 52

GeorgeBeckerpresentedasimilardescriptionofthedemandsoftheComstock

mines:.

AnimmenseconsumptionoftimberisanecessityofminingontheComstock....The

timbersareallsquaresawn,thecommonestsizebeing12by12inches....The

consumptionoftimberintheminesuptothecloseof1880isestimatedat450,000board

feet....TheonlyfuelusedontheComstockiswood,derivedfromthesamesourcesas

thetimber....Duringthecensusyear,endingMay31,1880,about110,000cordswere

burned,andfrom1860to1880theconsumptioncannothavebeenlessthanabout

900,000cords.Themillshaveburnedaboutasmuch(56).

Thesepassagesrevealthatmembersofthegeologicalsurveyhadbeguntorealize,in

thelate1880s,thatlimitstogrowthdidexist,eveninthevastexpansesoftheWestern

U.S.Yetthelargerobjectofthesurveyreportsseemstohavebeentodeferthe

consequencesofthatrealization,throughscience,andtechnology,throughtext,and

imagerytoprolongtheinfluxofEasternimmigrationtotheAmericanWestandexport

ofresources.

ThegeologicalsurveysoftheAmericanWestundertakenfromthe1860sthroughthe

1880sproviderichdocumentationofthewaysscienceandtechnologywererhetorically

employedinthefederalgovernmentssurveysoftheregion.Thesurveydirectorsand
 Wickliff48

authorsinlargemeasureespousedanexpansionistrhetoricthatdevaluedAmerican

Indiansandtheirmethodsoflandandresourceuse.,andthatIintheirplace,they

describedamythicWestofalmostinexhaustiblemineralwealth,timber,andagricultural

promise,avastlandthatcouldbeinventoriedbyEasterntechnologyanddirectedthe

purposesthegovernmentdeemedmostappropriate.Inthephotographicimagesboundin

thesurveyreports,theWesternenvironmentwasispresentedasstrangeandwonderful,

butalsoasamenabletotheimpressoftechnology,itssubserviencetohumanendsbeing

affirmedby,ifnothingelse,theotherwiseunobtrusivetechnologyofphotographythat

carriedimagesoftheWesttotheEast.Thecentralresourceissuesdefinedbythesurveys

includedmineralwealth,timberuse,andwaterforagricultureandcontinuetobethe

focusofcontemporarydebatesabouttheWesternenvironment.TheiconsofYosemite,

Yellowstone,andtheGrandCanyonthatwerecognizeasquintessentiallyWestern

environswerepicturedaestheticallyinthesurveyreports,butalmostalwaysinacontext

thataffirmed,notsomereverenceforthesanctityofnatureitself,butrathertheabilityof

men,equippedwith19thcenturytechnology,tophotographimageandalterthose

landscapes.TheYosemitevalleythatJohnMuirsoreveredandtheYellowstoneParkfor

whichhefeltambivalencewereboth,atbest,werebothnaturalwondersandrhetorical

andaestheticconstructions,shapedinlargemeasurebythegeologicalsurveysthatfirst

describedthem.53IftheU.S.GeologicalSurveysinpartinspiredthepreservationof

YosemiteandYellowstone,theareaswere,evenatthetimeoftheirdedicationaspublic

parks,environmentsthathadbeenworkedoverbytheeconomic,political,rhetoricaland

photographicforcesoftheirday.
 Wickliff49

Asthecenturydrewtoaclose,otherrevolutionsintransportation,architectural

engineering,andcommunicationstechnologywerejustbeginningtotakeshape.In1854,

BenjaminSillimandevelopedaprocesstofractionatepetroleumbydistillation,allowing

thedevelopmentofkeroseneasaneconomicalalternativetowhaleoilforinterior

lighting.ThediscoveryofpetroleuminPennsylvaniawastheoccasionforBenjamin

SillimanJr.toconductananalysisforthePennsylvaniaRockOilCompany.Petroleum

fieldsandwellswerequicklydeveloped(seeFigure145).54Oddlyenough,ithadbeen

thebrothersNipcewho,in1807France,hadfirstpatentedin1807inFranceaninternal

combustionenginepoweredbycoaldustandresin,aninventionthatcaughttheattention

oftheBritishaswell.55Withthedevelopmentofpetroleumdistillatesinthe1860s,

gasolinepoweredengineswiththeirliquidfuelbecamearealityandpartoftheearliest

patentsforautomobilesafter1885.Althoughafter1888thesehadrivalsinelectric

automobiles,transportationengineeringwouldbeincreasinglycenteredonpetroleum.

Bytheendofthecentury,publicationoftheresearchandglidingexperimentsof

OctaveChanutewoulddrawtheattentionoftheWilburWright,whowrotetoChanute

forguidance.Chanutehaddrawntogetherinonevolumeaseriesof27articlesonthe

historyandprinciplesofflightthatwerepublishedintheTheRailroadandEngineering

Journalbeginningin1891.Thebookformofthecollectedessayswasbroughtoutin

1894sProgressinFlyingMachines.Althoughsuccessinpoweredflightwouldnotbe

realizeduntilaftertheturnofthecentury,thephotographsanddrawingsbyChanute

wouldgoalongwaytowardfacilitatingthateresult.Thedevelopmentofaninexpensive

halftonescreenprintingprocessforphotographymadesuchimages
 Wickliff50

ubiquitouscommonplace.ChanutesglidingexperimentsontheIndianaduneswerethe

subjectofphotographspublishedinScientificAmericanin1898,presagingforetelling

thesimilarbutmorefamousimagesoftheWrightbrotherssuccessin1903(seeFigure

146).56

Asimilarcommunicationsrevolutionwasgatheringmomentumintheformofthe

networkedtelephonesystemafterAlexanderGrahamBellssuccessfuldemonstrationsof

1876.Whileinitiallycommercialtelephoneswerepointtopointlines,demandsoon

createdtheneedforexchangeswithmultiplelinesconnectedthroughaswitchboard

manipulatedbyoperators.Bytheendofthecentury,manywomenhadmovedintothe

newpositionoftelephoneoperators,coordinatingthecentralcommunicationsoflarge

organizationsliketheSmithsonianInstitutionitself(seeFigure147).
Wickliff51
1 Delta [John William Draper] The Smithsonian Institute. Southern Literary Messenger,
1840 p 25

2 Stansbury, Haydon, F. Military Ballooning During the Early Civil War. Reprint. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press. 2000. p. 331-333

3 Short, Simine. Locomotive to Aeromotive: Octave Chanute and the Transportation

Revolution. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 2011. p 37.

4 John William Draper. History of the American Civil War. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Vol. III 1870. p 630.

5 John William Draper. History of the American Civil War. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Vol. III 1870. p 631.

6 Simine Short. Locomotive to Aeromotive: Octave Chanute and the Transportation

Revolution. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 2011. p 10.

7 Simine Short. Locomotive to Aeromotive: Octave Chanute and the Transportation

Revolution. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 2011. p 4.

8 Young, Pearl I. Octave Chanute: A Bibliography. San Francisco: Edward L. Sterne. 1963.
p. 1

9 Simine Short. Locomotive to Aeromotive: Octave Chanute and the Transportation

Revolution. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 2011. p 45

10 Ragan, Owen. First Photographer In Kansas City Kansas City Times. March 9, 1927. p
89

11 Submarine Divers. Harpers Weekly. May 8, 1869. p. 295

12 Trachtenberg, Alan. Reading American Photographs: Images As History-Mathew Brady

to Walker Evans. New York: Hill and Wang, 1989 p. 121.

13 Trachtenberg, Alan. Reading American Photographs: Images As History-Mathew Brady

to Walker Evans. New York: Hill and Wang, 1989 p. 121.

14 Christadler, Martin. American Landscape: Geology and the Sacred, Commerce and
Manifest Destiny. in Pioneers of Landscape Photography: Gustave Le Gray, Carleton E.
Watkins. Ed. Weston Naef and Margret Stuffmann. Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum,
1993. p 111.

15 For a discussion of the rhetoric power of mapping and nomenclature, see Barton, Ben
F. and Marthalee S. Barton. "Ideology and the Map: Toward a Postmodern Visual Design
Practice." in Professional Communication: The Social Perspective. Nancy Roundy Blyler
and Charlotte Thralls, Ed. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1993.

16Powers,Stephen.TribesofCalifornia.Vol.IIIofContributionstoNorthAmericanEthnology,
J.W.Powell,Dir.Washington:GovernmentPrintingOffice,1877.p.365

17 Whitney, J. D. The Yosemite Book: A Description of the Yosemite Valley and the
Adjacent Region of the Sierra Nevada, and of the Big Trees of California, Illustrated by
Maps and Photographs. New York: Julius Bein, 1868. p 15.

18 Powers, Stephen. Tribes of California. Vol. III of Contributions to North American

Ethnology, J.W. Powell, Dir. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1877. p. 362

19 Powers, Stephen. Tribes of California. Vol. III of Contributions to North American

Ethnology, J.W. Powell, Dir. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1877. p. 16

20 Powers, Stephen. Tribes of California. Vol. III of Contributions to North American

Ethnology, J.W. Powell, Dir. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1877. p. 366

21 Powers, Stephen. Tribes of California. Vol. III of Contributions to North American

Ethnology, J.W. Powell, Dir. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1877. p. 368

22 King, Clarence. Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey for 1880. in
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior. Washington: Government Printing Office.
p. 335

23 Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains. New York Times (8 May 1867): p. 8

24 For a discussion of how mining reports have historically minimized the dangers of the
work, see Sauer, Beverly A. "Sense and Sensibility in Technical Documentation: How
Feminist Interpretation Strategies Can Save Lives in the Nation's Mines." Journal of
Business and Technical Communication 7 (1993): 63-83.

25 Lamar, Howard R. An Overview of Westward Expansion. in The West as American:

Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820-1920. William H. Truettner Ed. Washington:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. p. 3

26 Lamar, Howard R. An Overview of Westward Expansion. in The West as American:

Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820-1920. William H. Truettner Ed. Washington:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. p. 7

27 Lamar, Howard R. An Overview of Westward Expansion. in The West as American:

Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820-1920. William H. Truettner Ed. Washington:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. p. 11
28 Lamar, Howard R. An Overview of Westward Expansion. in The West as American:
Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820-1920. William H. Truettner Ed. Washington:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. p. 9

29 Wheeler, George M. Annual Report upon the Geographical Surveys West of the One
Hundredth Meridian in California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico,
Arizona, and Montana, by George M. Wheeler, First Lieutenant of Engineers, U. S. A.;
being Appendix JJ of the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1876. Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1876. p. 257-258

30 Strong, William Emerson. A trip to the Yellowstone National Park in July, August, and
September, 1875. Washington D.C.: Northern Pacific Railroad company. 1876. Reprint.
Norman, University of Oklahoma Press. 1968. p.105

31 Quoted in Hayden, F. V. [Fourth Annual] Preliminary Report of the United States

Geological Survey of Wyoming and Portions of Contiguous Territories, Conducted Under
the Authority of the Secretary of the Interior, by F. V. Hayden, United States Geologist.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1871. p. 219Q

32 Wheeler, George M. Preliminary Report Concerning Explorations and Surveys

Principally in Nevada and Arizona. Prosecuted in Accordance with Paragraph 2, Special
Orders No. 109, War Department, March 18, 1871, and Letter of Instructions of March
23, 1871, from Brig. Gen. A. A. Humphreys, Chief of Engineers. Conducted Under the
Immediate Direction of 1st Lieut. George M. Wheeler, Corps of Engineers. Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1872. p. 19-20

33 Whitney, J. D. The Yosemite Book: A Description of the Yosemite Valley and the
Adjacent Region of the Sierra Nevada, and of the Big Trees of California, Illustrated by
Maps and Photographs. New York: Julius Bein, 1868. p. 18

34 Hayden, F.V. Sun Pictures of Rocky Mountain Scenery, with a Description of the
Geographical and Geological Features and some Account of the Resources of the Great
West; Containing Thirty Photographic Views along the Line of the Pacific Rail Road, from
Omaha to Sacramento. New York: Julius Bien, 1870. p. iv-1

35 Hayden, F. V. Sun Pictures of Rocky Mountain Scenery, with a Description of the

Geographical and Geological Features and some Account of the Resources of the Great
West; Containing Thirty Photographic Views along the Line of the Pacific Rail Road, from
Omaha to Sacramento. New York: Julius Bien, 1870. p. 134

36 Horan, James D. Timothy O'Sullivan: America's Forgotten Photographer. New York:

Bonanza Books, 1966. p. 152

37 Howarth, William. Introduction. Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada by Clarence

King. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. p. xii
38 King, Clarence. Production of Precious Metals in the United States. in Second Annual
Report of the United States Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior, 1880-1881
by J. W. Powell, Director. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1882. p. 346

39 Powell, J. W. Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States with a More
Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah, with Maps. 2nd ed. Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1879. p. viii

40 Powell, J. W. Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States with a More
Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah, with Maps. 2nd ed. Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1879. p. 11

41 Powell, J. W. Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States with a More
Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah, with Maps. 2nd ed. Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1879. p. 24

42 Powell, J. W. Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States with a More
Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah, with Maps. 2nd ed. Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1879. p. 24

43 Wheeler, George M. Preliminary Report Concerning Explorations and Surveys

Principally in Nevada and Arizona. Prosecuted in Accordance with Paragraph 2, Special
Orders No. 109, War Department, March 18, 1871, and Letter of Instructions of March
23, 1871, from Brig. Gen. A. A. Humphreys, Chief of Engineers. Conducted Under the
Immediate Direction of 1st Lieut. George M. Wheeler, Corps of Engineers. Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1872. p. 21

44 See Palmquist, Peter E. Carleton E. Watkins: Photographer of the American West.

Albuquerque: U of New Mexico Press, 1983. p. 14

45 Welling, William. Photography in America: The Formative Years 1839-1900. New

York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1978. p. 224

46 Anderson, Nancy K. The Kiss of Enterprise. in William H. Truettner, ed. The West as
America: Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820-1920. Washington D.C.:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. p. 268

47 Anderson, Nancy K. The Kiss of Enterprise. in William H. Truettner, ed. The West as
America: Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820-1920. Washington D.C.:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. p. 275

48 This discussion builds upon that of Don D. Fowler in The Western Photographs of John
K. Hillers: "myself in the water." Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.

49 See the excellent discussion of this image and its engraving in Fowler, Don D. The
Western Photographs of John K. Hillers: Myself in the Water. Washington: Smithsonian
Institution Press, 1989.
50 Hales, Peter B. William Henry Jackson and the Transformation of the American
Landscape. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1988. p. 108

51 Hayden, F.V. [Fourth Annual] Preliminary Report of the United States Geological
Survey of Wyoming and Portions of Contiguous Territories, Conducted Under the
Authority of the Secretary of the Interior, by F. V. Hayden, United States Geologist.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1871. p. 163

52 Hague, Arnold. Geology of the Eureka District. Monographs of the United States
Geological Survey, Vol. XX, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1892. p. 5

53 Richardson, Bruce A. Fear Nothing: An Interpretation of John Muirs Writings on

Yellowstone. in John Muir: Life and Work Ed. Sally M. Miller. Albuquerque: U of New
Mexico Press, 1993. p. 267

54 Henry, J. T. Early and Later History of Petroleum. Philadelphia. James B. Rodgers. 1873.

55 Account of Pyrolophory, invented by MM. Nipce. The Repertory of Arts,

Manufactures, and Agriculture. CXXXIII Hattos Garden: J. Wyatt. June 1813 p. 310

56 Gliding Experiments. Scientific American Supplement Vol. 45 No. 1149 January 8,

1898. p. 18368