68 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF WISCONSIN. v 



beyond to the carboniferous limestone. It is hardly possible to 

 conceive of a graver blunder, or an exhibition of profounder ignorance 

 in the domain of practical geology. 



A resolution of February 6, 1839, adopted by the house of repre- 

 sentatives, reads as follows: " That the President of the United States 

 be requested to be caused to be prepared, and presented to the next 

 congress, at an early day, a plan for the sale of the public mineral 

 lands, having reference as well to the amount of revenue to be derived 

 from them, and their value as public property, as to the equitable 

 claims of individuals upon them ; and that he, at the same time, com- 

 municate to congress all the information in possession of the treasury 

 department relative to their location, value, productiveness, and occu- 

 pancy; and that he cause such further information to be collected, 

 and surveys to be made, as may be necessary for these purposes." In 

 pursuance of this resolution, the commissioner of the general land 

 office appointed Dr. D. D. Owen to take charge of a geological survey 

 of the Upper Mississippi lead region. Dr. Owen began his work, 

 with 139 assistants, in September, 1839, and finished it the same 

 autumn. His report, accompanied by maps, drawings of fossils, sec- 

 tions, etc., was transmitted to the land office, April 2, 1840. It was 

 printed without the maps in June of the same year. 



The senate ordered it reprinted, with the maps and drawings, in 

 1844. Dr. Owen's report contains the first scientific description of 

 the lead region of Wisconsin. With a few mistakes, easily made in 

 a hasty survey, without skilled assistants, the report determines the 

 geological structure of the southwestern part of the state. 



The general government authorized a geological survey of the Chip- 

 pewa land district in 1847, and Dr. Owen was very fortunately selected 

 to take charge of it. His preliminary report was furnished to the 

 treasury department in April, 1848. His final report was published, 

 with a general geological map, including the whole state of Wisconsin, 

 in 1851. It is a monument of Dr. Owen's industry and scientific 

 knowledge. Professor J. D. Whitney, a most competent witness, truly 

 says, speaking of his previous report, " There were probably few, if 

 any, persons in the country, at that early period of our geological cul- 

 ture, who could have executed the survey with the ability and energy 

 which were displayed by this gentleman." 



The legislature of Wisconsin passed an act, approved March 25, 



1853, under which Mr. Daniels was appointed State Geologist. His 

 report, about fifty pages in length, bears no date, but was printed in 



1854. It repeats the views of Dr. Owen and is mostly confined to the 

 lead region. About a year afterwards, Mr. Daniels was removed, and 



