King of the 40th Parallel: Discovery in the American WestStanford University Press, 2006 - 387 pagina's This book recounts the life and achievements of Clarence King, widely recognized as one of America s most gifted intellectuals of the nineteenth century, and a legendary figure in the American West. King s genius, singular accomplishments, and near-death adventures unfold in a narrative centered on his personal relationship with his lifelong friend and colleague, James Gardner. The two, upon completing their studies at Yale, traveled by wagon train across the continent and worked with the California Geological Survey. King went on to establish the Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel, a government mapping program that stretched across the western mountain chains from California to Wyoming. This was the precursor to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Founded in 1879, with Clarence King as its architect and first director, the USGS became the most important and influential science agency in the nation. The adventurous aspects of conducting geological fieldwork in the West, much of them documented by letters written by King and Gardner, punctuate a book copiously illustrated with historic maps and photographs showing localities and people important to the story. |
Inhoudsopgave
A Bird of Paradise | 1 |
Ablebodied Men | 28 |
Gold and Guns | 48 |
Almost Inaccessible to Man | 78 |
Grand Cold Fury of the Sierra | 108 |
Mirage and Blizzard | 123 |
Fever on the Desert | 138 |
True Ice and False Summit | 185 |
Pushed with the Utmost Vigor | 252 |
Rocky Triangulation | 271 |
A Grand Fusion | 295 |
Epilogue | 309 |
Appendixes | 331 |
Notes | 351 |
363 | |
An Unparalleled Fraud | 221 |
Overige edities - Alles bekijken
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Arnold Hague Bailey barometer basin became began boat California Geological Survey camp canyon Clarence King Clark climbed Colorado Comstock Cotter crest crossed desert diamond Dick Cotter east Engineers equipment expedition exploration feet field fieldwork FIGURE Fortieth Parallel Survey fossils funding Geological Survey Library geologist glaciers gold granite Hague Hayden horses Humphreys Indians James Gardner James Hague Josiah Whitney Kaweah King and Gardner King's later letter Lode Mariposa miles mineral mining mother Mount Brewer Mount Shasta Mount Tyndall Mount Whitney mules night NYSL Pacific pack party peak Photograph Powell Professor railroad range reached region ride River rock rode Salt Lake Samuel Emmons San Francisco scientific Sierra Nevada snow station summit Timothy O'Sullivan took topographic mapping trail traveled triangulation trip U.S. Geological Survey Utah Virginia City Washington western Wheeler William Brewer Wyoming Yale York Yosemite Valley