Surveys and Expeditions

Photos of Geological Surveys and Expeditions
We have gathered a collection of some of the best and most interesting photos taken during the American frontier days. They are from the National Archives in Washington D.C.
Please browse at your leisure. Meditate on the humble beginnings of the United States of America.
This page is dedicated to showing photos of Surveys and Expeditions in the American West

A member of Clarence King's Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel is surveying from a rock. Shoshone Canyon and Falls, Idaho Territory, in background. By O'Sullivan, 1868. 77-KS-4412. Timothy O'Sullivan's ambulance wagon and portable darkroom used during the King Survey rolls across the sand dunes of Carson Desert, Nev. By O'Sullivan, 1867. 77-KS-346O.
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A noon meal in Ferdinand V. Hayden's camp of the U.& Geological Survey. Red Buttes, Wyoming Territory, August 24, 1870. Hayden sits at far end of table in dark jacket; W. H. Jackson stands at far right. By Jackson. 57-HS-282. The U.S. Geological and Geophysical Survey of the Territories, conducted by Hayden, en route with pack train upon the trail between the Yellowstone and East Fork Rivers "showing the manner in which all parties traverse these wilds." Wyoming Territory By Jackson, 1871. 57-HS-414.
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First camp of the John Wesley Powell expedition, in the willows, Green River, Wyoming Territory By E. 0. Beaman, 1871. 57-PS-471. An overland caravan laden with boats. Robert B. Stanton's Denver, Colorado Canyon, and Pacific Railway Survey, 1889-90. 57-RS-97.
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