CLARENCE KING. 



that their personal devotion to him and their faith in the com- 

 plete success of the undertaking knew no bounds. 



In 1869, when the two ends of the transcontinental railroad 

 had met in the Salt Lake Valley, the work of the Survey had 

 been carried eastward to the boundary of Wyoming, which was 

 the eastern limit of the area it was primarily intended to survey. 

 In recognition of the public demand for a direct application of 

 the results of government geological work, King had caused 

 special study to be made of the then developed mining districts 

 of the West, more particularly of the Comstock Lode, at that 

 time recognized as one of the three or four greatest silver de- 

 posits in the world. This work was pushed rapidly to comple- 

 tion and was issued in 1870 in an elaborately illustrated quarto 

 volume, written conjointly by himself and James D. Hague, 

 under the title of "Mining Industry." It was described by one 

 of its most capable critics as by "itself a scientific manual of 

 American precious metal mining and metallurgy." It was con- 

 sidered a classic among works in its line, and has served as a 

 model for similar monographs since published under government 

 auspices, which have been important factors in raising the 

 mining industry of America to its present high position. 



In July, 1870, while the members of his corps at New Haven 

 were engaged in writing up the reports of what was supposed to 

 be their completed field work, King received telegraphic instruc- 

 tions from General Humphreys to immediately take the field, 

 since Congress, of its own impulse and without solicitation, now 

 appreciating the importance of the work, had voted mone} r for 

 its further continuation. It being then too late in the season to 

 carry on field work to advantage in the higher regions of the 

 Eocky Mountains, King planned an exploration of the great ex- 

 tinct volcanoes of the Pacific coast in order to complete the 

 record of the volcanic phenomena so abundantly exhibited within 

 the area already surveyed in the Great Basin, and during the 

 late summer and autumn special studies were made of the then 

 practically unexplored peaks of Shasta, Eainier, and Hood. 



The field work of the seasons of 1871-'2 carried the work of 

 the Survey across the Uinta and Eocky Mountains well out onto 

 the Great Plains. It was at the close of field work in the latter 

 season that occurred the exposure of the great diamond fraud of 



39 



