An Expedition to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah
Including a Description of its Geography, Natural History and Minerals, and an Analysis of its Waters, with an Authentic Account of the Mormon Settlement

An illustrated account of a two-year surveying expedition to Salt Lake City, published in 1852, including positive comments on Mormonism.

Howard Stansbury (Author)

9781108033367, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 29 September 2011

610 pages, 57 b/w illus. 1 map
21.6 x 14.2 x 4.1 cm, 0.77 kg

Howard Stansbury (1806–63) trained as a civil engineer and became a major in the United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. He oversaw a number of construction projects and later had geographical features and plant and animal species named after him. In 1849–51, Stansbury led an expedition to the Great Salt Lake Valley in Utah to carry out a scientific survey, as well as to scout possible locations for a transcontinental railroad and to evaluate emigration trails. This book, first published in 1852, is Stansbury's account of that expedition, and of his party's encounters with Brigham Young and the recently-founded Mormon community, of which he formed a favourable opinion. As well as being illustrated with scenes from the expedition and examples of fauna and flora, the report includes appendices on zoology, botany, geology and palaeontology, written by experts of the time in those fields.

Introduction
1. From Fort Leavenworth to Fort Kearny
2. From Fort Kearny to Fort Laramie
3. From Fort Laramie to Fort Bridger
4. From Fort Bridger to the City of the Great Salt Lake
5. Reconnoissance from Salt Lake City to Fort Hall
6. Reconnoissance of the Western shores of the Great Salt Lake
7. Suspension of the survey for 1849
8. Survey of Salt Lake
9. Departure from Great Salt Lake City
Appendix A. Tables of measured distances
Appendix B. Latitudes and longitudes of the principal triangulation stations
Appendix C. Zoology
Appendix D. Botany
Appendix E. Geology and palaeontology
Appendix F. Chemical analysis
Appendix G. Meteorological observations
Index.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP]