- George Wheeler
Captain George Montague Wheeler (born Grafton, Massachusetts, October 9, 1842) was a pioneering
explorer andcartographer , leader of theWheeler Survey , one of the major surveys of the westernUnited States in the late nineteenth century. He graduated fromWest Point in 1866, ranked sixth in his class, and he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in theUS Army Corps of Engineers . His first exploration was in 1869, when Wheeler was 27 years old, and on the staff of the Commanding General of the Department ofCalifornia of theUS Army .In 1872, the
US Congress authorized an ambitious plan to map the portion of the United States west of the100th meridian at a scale of 8 miles to the inch. This plan necessitated what became known as theWheeler Survey , lasting until 1879, when the survey, along with the King and Powell Surveys, were terminated and their work was reorganized as theUnited States Geological Survey .George Wheeler retired from the Army in 1888 and died in 1909.
Wheeler Peak in Nevada (part of the
Great Basin National Park ), Wheeler Peak in New Mexico (the state high point), and the scenicWheeler Geologic Area in southernColorado are named for George Wheeler.References
* [http://www.library.unr.edu/specoll/mss/NC319.html University of Nevada, Reno Library: Special Collections description]
* [http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1050/surveys.htm USGS history circular]
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