LETTER TO THE SECRETARY. 



Washington, January 1, 1871. 



Sir: In accordance with your instructions dated July 15, 1870, I 

 have the honor to present the* second annual report of progress of the 

 United States geological survey of the Territories, conducted under 

 your direction during the present season. 



In the field work I have been guided by the following directions, con- 

 tained in your letter of instructions : 



"The area of your exploration must necessarily be discretionary to 

 some extent; but owing to the lateness of the season and the limited 

 time for field-work, it is thought advisable by this Department that the 

 field of your labor be confined principally to Wyoming and such portions 

 of contiguous territories as may be deemed desirable. You will be re- 

 quired to secure as full material as possible for the illustration of your 

 final report, such as sketches, photographs, &c. It is desirable that 

 your collections in all departments should be as complete as possible, 

 and you will forward them to the Smithsonian Institution, to be classified 

 and arranged according to law. You will be exj)ected to prepare a pre- 

 liminary report of your labors, which will be ready for publication by 

 January 1, 1871. You are referred to your instructions of last season for 

 the details of your duties in the field." 



The bill making the appropriation for the survey was not signed by 

 the President until the 15th of July, and immediately thereafter I pro- 

 ceeded to Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, in accordance with the above 

 instructions. 



My party was organized as follows: 



James Stevenson, managing director ; Henry W. Elliott, artist ; Prof. 

 Cyrus Thomas, agriculturist ; Wm. H. Jackson, photographer ; John H. 

 Beaman, meteorologist ; Charles S. Turnbull, secretary ; Arthur L. 

 Ford, mineralogist; C. P. Carrington, zoologist; Henry D. Schmidt, 

 naturalist ; L. A. Bartlett, general assistant. Mr. S. P. Gifford, land- 

 scape artist, of New York City, accompanied the party as guest from 

 Cheyenne to Fort Bridger. My employes were, one wagon-master, four 

 teamsters, and three cooks and laborers. At Fort Fetterinan I employed 

 an old mountaineer as guide and interpreter, through that portion of 

 the country supposed to be infested with hostile Indians. 



* This is really a fourth annual report of progress of the United States geological 

 survey of the Territories. The first and second annual reports will he found incor- 

 porated in the reports of the Commissioner of the General Land Office for the years 

 1S67 and 1868. The th vd is the report of the survey of Colorado and New Mexico, 

 published last winter. 



