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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



of the Cuban Census ; as Geographer of 

 the loth, nth, and 12th censuses of the 

 United States ; as Statistician of the Na- 

 tional Conservation Commission, and as 

 Chairman of the United States Geo- 

 graphic Board, his contributions to geo- 

 graphic knowledge were of inestimable 

 value. 



"We feel deeply the great loss our 

 Society has sustained in Mr. Gannett's 

 death, and extend to the members of his 

 family our own as well as the Society's 

 profound sympathy. 



"We have lost a valued friend, the 

 community a most useful citizen, his fam- 

 ily a devoted husband and father, and 

 the cause of geographic science one who 

 labored in its behalf with unflagging zeal, 

 with unremitting energy, and with un- 

 usual success." 



For more than a third of a century 

 Dr. Gannett had been one of the leading 

 figures in the scientific activities of the 

 United States Government, at the same 

 time playing a most important role in 

 related affairs outside of the Federal 

 service. He was practically the father 

 of Government map-making in the United 

 States, the chief figure in the work of 

 standardizing geographic names in Amer- 

 ica, and the author of our present system 

 of statistical charting in connection with 

 the National Censuses. 



Dr. Gannett was born in Maine, Au- 

 gust 24, 1846, the son of Michael Farley 

 and Mary Church Gannett. He came of 

 rugged Anglo-Saxon stock, and, as soon 

 as he reached the age where he could 

 think for himself, decided to make en- 

 gineering his life work. When 23 years 

 of age he took the Bachelor of Science 

 degree at Lawrence Scientific School, 

 Harvard University. This degree, at that 

 time, corresponded to the present degree 

 of Civil Engineer. The next year, in 

 1870, he took the degree of Mining Engi- 

 neer at Hooper Mining School, Harvard 

 University. Following his graduation he 

 became assistant at the Harvard Astro- 

 nomical Observatory, accompanying Pro- 

 fessor Pickering to Spain in 1871 to ob- 

 serve the total eclipse of the sun that 

 year. 



Upon his return from Spain two posi- 

 tions in the scientific world were tendered 



him — that of astronomer in the Hall 

 North Polar Expedition and that of to- 

 pographer on the staff of Dr. F. V. Hay- 

 den, for the United States Geological 

 and Geographic Survey of the Territories. 

 He chose Government survey work rather 

 than Polar exploration as the field of his 

 activities, and was appointed topographer 

 to the Western Division of the Hayden 

 Survey, serving in that capacity until it 

 was merged into the newly created 

 United States Geological Survey. 



It was hazardous work and appealed 

 to the adventurous spirit. It carried the 

 hardy young engineer into regions where 

 the foot of white men had never before 

 trod ; across mountain passes and torren- 

 tial rivers ; among wild Indian tribes, 

 often on the war-path. 



He became a pioneer explorer and to- 

 pographer of great sections, more par- 

 ticularly Colorado and Wyoming, of the 

 vast empire which the Louisiana Pur- 

 chase added to our national domain. It 

 was a region filled with geologic wonders 

 and unmeasurable industrial possibilities, 

 which appealed equally to the imagi*:.. 

 tion and the practical turn of the young 

 engineer's mind. 



He discovered and christened many a 

 mountain peak and hidden lake and was 

 one of the first to ascend Mt. Whitney, 

 the highest peak in the United States 

 outside of Alaska. 



In 1879 the United States Census 

 needed the services of an experienced 

 geographer, and the Geological Survey 

 was asked to detail him for that work. 

 As geographer of the Tenth Census, he 

 laid out nearly 2,000 enumeration dis- 

 tricts with such definiteness that each 

 census enumerator for the first time 

 knew in advance the metes and bounds 

 of his district. This system is in force 

 to the present day. The statistical atlas 

 he created for the Tenth Census marked 

 a new epoch in statistical cartography. 



When his services with the Tenth Cen- 

 sus ended, Mr. Gannett returned to the 

 Geological Survey, in 1882, which was 

 then headed by Major J. W. Powell, 

 the intrepid geologist. Director Powell 

 promptly made him the Chief Geogra- 

 pher of the Survey. 



As Chief Geographer, Dr. Gannett de- 



