2012 Issue

61 F ROM THE AGE of 20 years, John Gunnison’s career was the US Army. He served the U.S. of America with a vigor that can only be described by his first in command when he was on a survey party expedition in Salt Lake City. Howard Stansbury wrote of Gunnison in 1850, “I takemuch pleasure in acknowledg- ing the efficient and faithful services of my friend and assistant, Lieut. J. W. Gunnison, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers. To high professional skill, he added energy, judgment, and an untiring devotion to the interests of the expedition, which very ma- terially contributed to its success.” John Gunnison entered this career as a young cadet in the U.S. Military Academy, known as West Point, in 1832. West Point, also known as Army, was founded in 1802, by legislation under Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, and is located in West Point, A Short History of John Williams Gunnison His Survey Journals in Salt Lake, and his Untimely Death JOHN WILLIAMS | continued on page 62