642 The Smithsonian Institution 



United States. Prior to that date most of the geological 

 work under the auspices of the United States government had 

 been done by expeditions undertaken primarily for some 

 other object. The place of geology had been, as Clarence 

 King has well expressed it, that of a camp-follower. The 

 next few years were marked by the achievements of four 

 great organizations devoted specifically to geological work : 

 the Survey of the Fortieth Parallel, under Clarence King ; 

 the Survey West of the One Hundredth Meridian, under Lieu- 

 tenant Wheeler ; the Survey of the Territories, under Doctor 

 Hayden ; and the Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, 

 under Major Powell. All these explorations were aided by 

 the Smithsonian Institution, and helped to enrich its Museum 

 by their collections. 



After the organization of the United States Geological Sur- 

 vey in 1879, the geologists in government employ had a 

 headquarters of their own in Washington, and their work was 

 naturally less intimately related to the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. Yet the two organizations, entirely independent, have 

 been mutually helpful. Several of the geologists of the 

 Survey have been at the same time curators in the National 

 Museum. 



One exploration deserves special mention in this connec- 

 tion, because placed by act of Congress specifically under the 

 direction of the Smithsonian Institution the exploration of 

 the Colorado River and its tributaries, by Major Powell, in 

 the years i&6()-j2. The report was submitted to the Sec- 

 retary of the Smithsonian Institution, though not published 

 as one of its series of documents. The intrepid and adventur- 

 ous character of the expedition and the brilliant style of the 

 narrative make the report of this exploration one of the most 

 interesting stories of scientific travel. But the report is of 

 greater importance as containing the formulation of the doc- 



