Stereophoto from the 1871 expedition. Photo of Maiman, a Mohave Indian interpreter and guide, by Timothy H. O'Sullivan
The Wheeler Survey, carried out in 1872-1879, was one of the "Four Great Surveys" conducted by the United States government after the Civil War primarily to document the geology and natural resources of the American West. [1] Supervised by First Lieutenant (later Captain) George Montague Wheeler, the Wheeler Survey documented and mapped the United States west of the 100th meridian. The survey team included Lieutenant (later Brigadier General) Montgomery M. Macomb,[2] plus the paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Charles Abiathar White.[3]
Wheeler led early expeditions from 1869 to 1871 in the West, and in 1872 the United States Congress authorized an ambitious plan to map the portion of the United States west of the 100th meridian at a scale of eight miles to the inch. This plan necessitated what became known as the Wheeler Survey. The survey's main goal was to make topographic maps of the southwestern United States.
In addition he was to ascertain everything related to the physical features of the region; discover the numbers, habits, and disposition of Indians in the section; select sites for future military installations; determine facilities available for making rail or common roads; and note mineral resources, climate, geology, vegetation, water sources, and agricultural potential.[4]
Photographers on the expedition included Timothy H. O'Sullivan of New York and William Bell of Philadelphia. Many of their photographs are now on file at the Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division.[5][6]
The Wheeler Survey lasted until 1879, when the survey, along with the King and Powell Surveys, were terminated and their work was reorganized as the United States Geological Survey.
Wheeler Peak in Nevada (part of the Great Basin National Park), Wheeler Peak in New Mexico (the state high point), and the scenic Wheeler Geologic Area in southern Colorado are named for George Wheeler.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Geographic Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian (1871 - 1874).
^"USGS C 1050 -- The Four Great Surveys of the West". pubs.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
^"Macomb Gets Promotion". Indianapolis Star. September 6, 1910. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
^Wheeler, George; White, Charles; Cope, Edward (1877). "Report upon United States geological surveys west of the one hundredth meridian, Volume IV: Paleontology". USGS. US Government Printing Office: 776. doi:10.3133/70039253. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
^University of Nevada, Reno Library: Special Collections description
^Photographs from Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, Expedition of 1872, Library of Congress website. Retrieved: 5 April 2012.
^Wheeler Survey Views of the American West, 1871-1874, Library of Congress website. Retrieved: 5 April 2012.
Captain) George Montague Wheeler, the WheelerSurvey documented and mapped the United States west of the 100th meridian. The survey team included Lieutenant...
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Augusta with the aid of his first wife, Tessa Wheeler. Influenced by the archaeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers, Wheeler argued that excavation and the recording...
"Camp WheelerSurvey Complete". Georgia Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2022-06-21. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Camp Wheeler. Camp Wheeler Historical...
1871 as part of the Geological Exploration of the 100th meridian (or "WheelerSurvey"). The name "Joshua tree" is commonly said to have been given by a group...
a British archaeologist and army officer, Mortimer Wheeler took over as Director General. Wheeler served as Director General till 1948 and during this...
domain". The legislation also provided that the Hayden, Powell, and Wheelersurveys be discontinued as of June 30, 1879. Clarence King, the first director...
who took up a homestead in a section of Tuolumne Meadows in 1885. The WheelerSurvey referred to it as Soda Springs Dome, and John Muir called it Glacier...
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necessitated what became known as the WheelerSurvey, along with the Clarence King and John Wesley Powell Surveys, and expeditions by Ferdinand Vandeveer...
George Wheeler may refer to: George Wheeler (explorer) (1842–1905), explorer and cartographer, leader of the WheelerSurvey George Wheeler (entomologist)...
000) and updating the map of Sikkim. Wheeler made a careful 1,600 square kilometres (600 sq mi) photographic survey close to Everest itself producing a...
Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler MC (April 18, 1890 – March 19, 1962) was a Canadian surveyor, mountain climber and soldier. Wheeler participated in the first...
referred to as "Aeolus" in the 1874 Hayden Survey. The current spelling of "Eolus" was first used in the WheelerSurvey of 1878. Mount Eolus is one of three...
Pass was discovered by and named for Lt. William L. Marshall, of the WheelerSurvey, in 1873. When William Marshall first crossed the pass he realized that...
Geological Survey, 1967. The Best of Colorado 4-wheel Drive Roads, Adler Publishing (2007), ISBN 9780930657406, p. 155. George Montague Wheeler (1876), Annual...
U.S. state of California. It was named by the United States Geological Survey in 1894 and is located in the Angeles National Forest. This peak was first...
Geographic Names, to commemorate Joseph Devel, one of the members of the WheelerSurvey who made the first ascent of this summit on September 20, 1875. Joe...
difficult 14 mile four-wheel drive road. The formations are named after Captain George M. Wheeler, who explored and surveyed the area in 1874 for the...
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