2012 Issue

62 Orange County, New York. As an interest- ing side note, whichmay reflect Gunnison’s survey-oriented orders throughout his life and career, Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, the “father of the Military Academy,” served as Superintendent of West Point from l8l7 to l833. He upgraded academic standards, instilledmilitary discipline and emphasized honorable conduct at West Point. Aware of our young nation’s need for engineers, Thayer made civil engineering the foun- dation of the curriculum. Graduates were largely responsible for the construction of the bulk of the nation’s initial railway lines, bridges, harbors and roads. Gunnison grad- uated 2 nd in his class of 50 cadets in 1837. Surveying the Valley of the Great Salt Lake One of the greatest surveys and expedi- tions of the Great Salt Lake, and the sur- rounding area, took place as ordered by Colonel John J. Abert on April 11, 1849, which was just three short years after Brigham Young and the Mormon pioneers came into the Salt Lake Valley. This survey party consisted of Captain Howard Stans- bury and his second in command, First Lieutenant John Williams Gunnison, both under orders of the United States Military to “survey the Great Salt Lake, and an exploration of its valley.” So much information can be gleaned from the field journals that Stansbury and Gun- nison kept religiously. These field journals that not only show simple notes and measurements, but also the sociological characteristics of the community in the Salt Lake Valley during 1849 and 1850. This time period may have been turbulent times be- tween the Mormons and the Federal Gov- ernment, especially regarding polygamy, but Stansbury andGunnison painted a very pleasant and polite picture of the Mormon pioneers. An extremely small sampling of field journals are displayed in this article and, if the reader is interested, many more can be found in An expedition to the valley of the Great salt lake of Utah , written by Captain Howard Stansbury and published by the United States Army in 1855. During theexpedition, the survey equipment used by Stansbury and Gunnison proved to be sub-standard for the work they were trying to perform. Lieutenant Gunnison, in charge of the “astronomical department” for the expedition party, writes: The angles of the triangulation were measured with a seven-inch theodolite by Draper. The instrument was scarcely competent to the work, from the low power of its telescope, the great distance between most of the stations, the mirage, and the almost constant haze that pervaded the atmosphere. Many repetitions of the readings were consequently necessary to secure the requisite accuracy in the results. This was peculiarly the case in obtaining the Azimuth of the Base Line, which was fixed by observations of the Polar Star. The work is believed to be sufficiently accurate to correct the detailed measurements, as well as to form a basis upon which a triangulation may hereafter be extended over this great internal basin, should such a work ever be contemplated by the Government. The natural features of this desolate region, abounding as it does in lofty eminences, widely separated by intervening level plains, is admirably adapted to such an operation; although its execution could not be attended with great labour and privation. Many of the deserts would furnish extended plains, absolutely level, upon which a degree of the Meridian could be measured to great advantage. As the expedition progressed, and while Captain Stansbury was engaged in survey- ing the islands and shores off the Great Salt Lake, Lieutenant Gunnison was employed in exploring its eastern side, and in mak- ing observations along the banks of the “River Jordan,” which flows into “Lake Utah.” Gunnison’s journal entries of these valleys are pleasant and give hope to fu- ture pioneers coming from America (the eastern states): A beautiful and wide bottom lies along the shore of Utah lake, and for many miles there is a rich alluvial soil, mixed with vegetable mould. On the Timpanogas bottom beyond, wheat crops, sown by the Utah settlers, grow most luxuriantly, and a continuous field might be made from thence back to the Utah Valley, to sustain a population of a hundred thousand inhabitants. There is grazing land all along the west of the Lake. Just as quickly as the expedition party rolled into Salt Lake City in 1849, so came the winter of 1849 – 1850. Unable to work in the harsh Utah winter, Captain Stansbury and Lieutenant Gunnison made Salt Lake City home for the cold winter months. Winter in JOHN WILLIAMS | continued from page 61