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2 parts in one volume. 12mo., (4 6/8 x 3 inches). Diagrams and tables in the text. Original half red roan, marbled paper boards, gilt (extremities a little rubbed). Provenance: with the ownership inscription of the explorer "A.W. Whipple Pacific R'Way" on the front free endpaper. First edition of part one, and a later edition of part II. FROM THE LIBRARY OF AMIEL WEEKS WHIPPLE, and used by him in preparation for his monumental survey of a railway route along the 35th parallel. In 1849, after completing work with the Northeastern Boundary Survey, Whipple was assigned to the Mexican Boundary Survey team. "The peace treaty with Mexico was recently signed, and the group was exploring great lengths of land unknown to Americans and Europeans. With the northern and southern borders established and the discovery of gold in California, the United States Congress saw the need for exploration of the interior lands. There was much discussion of a super highway for travelers to safely navigate from the Mississippi River to the pacific coastline. By an act of Congress, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was charged to conduct surveys for the first transcontinental railroad route to the Pacific Ocean, near the 35th parallel. Five teams were sent, the Northern, Central, and coastal Pacific surveys were commissioned along with two Southern Pacific survey teams, one of which was led by Lt. Whipple. The journals of this expedition are very thorough and contain details regarding supplies, the hiring of cooks and assistants, as well as environmental, topographical, and cultural observations. Whipple kept records with meticulous detail, often writing while on horseback or aboard a train, evident through his varied penmanship. "The survey party reached Oklahoma Territory on Friday July 15, 1853. After a lengthy crossing of the Poteau River, the wooden cart which carried men, supplies and surveying equipment, ran into a tree stump and was broken. A summer storm crept up on the team and Lt. Whipple soon found himself walking through knee deep puddles on the prairie. Sunday provided a day of rest for the men and the animals, and by Tuesday July 19, the team had arrived at the Choctaw Agency. Surveying the land and observing the inhabitants gave Lt. Whipple many things to write about, and his journal entries for the month of August are extensive and illustrate his view of the prairie (Jennifer Silvers Oklahoma Historical Society). Stephen Long, the author of this invaluable guide, had led a famous expedition into the trans-Mississippi West, originally called the "Yellowstone Expedition". The Long Expedition was the third major American exploration into the trans-Mississippi West, following Lewis and Clark, and Pike, and much had been expected of him. Unfortunately funding for the expedition was withdrawn in 1821 before all objectives could be met, although it did succeed in founding the myth of the "Great American Desert" which appears to the West of the Rocky Mountains on the map of the "Country drained by the Mississippi Western Section" and which is "frequented by roving bands of Indians who have no fixed places of residence but roam from place to place in quest of game". Long was subsequently assigned to aid the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, America's first commercial railroad, in surveying and overcoming problems facing the company in the progress of the new route. "Long, who was eminently qualified because of his western explorations, became a director in the company and supervised the early surveys. This manual, the result of his experience, is a detailed system of rules for the surveying of a railroad with a discussion of the geometric principles and geodetic problems peculiar to railroads, and with the necessary Mathematical Tables. Included are descriptions of instruments, camp-equipage, and personnel necessary for field operations" (Robinson 77-226).
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