2 THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



While as early as 1820 General Cass had taken a mineral- 

 ogist with him, it was not until 1834 that Congress made a 

 specific appropriation for geological surveys. The act of June 

 28, 1834, appropriated $5,000 "to be applied to geological and 

 mineralogical survey and researches." This appropriation was 

 used in making a geological survey of the country between the 

 Missouri River and the Red River, and the resulting report 

 contained, in addition to an account of the geology and miner- 

 alogy of the areas covered, a geologic section of the country 

 from the New Jersey coast to the Red River in Texas. 



In the period from 1835 to 1850 the surveys and explora- 

 tions made in the western country under Army auspices rapidly 

 increased in number. Of these perhaps the most noteworthy 

 were those of Captain, later General Fremont. Of the civilian 

 surveys of the period, those made by David Dale Owen, be- 

 ginning in 1839, under the auspices of the General Land Office, 

 were of great importance, embracing as they did the geology 

 of the region now included in the states of Illinois, Iowa, Wis- 

 consin and Minnesota. 



During 185 3-1 861 the War Department, under authority of 

 the act of March 3, 1853 ( IO Stat. L., 219) and supplemen- 

 tary acts, made surveys for a railroad from the Mississippi 

 River to the Pacific Ocean, geologists accompanying each of 

 the field parties. The investigations made were reported in 

 thirteen quarto volumes, published in 185 5- 1860 under the 

 title, "Reports of explorations and surveys to ascertain the 

 most practicable and economical route for a railroad from 

 the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean." 



During the Civil War and for a year or more thereafter no 

 government survey of note appears to have been undertaken. 



Geographical and Geological Surveys: 1867-1879. With 

 the close of the war the work of surveying and mapping the 

 western country was renewed with increased vigor. Between 

 1867 and 1869 four surveying expeditions were put in the 



