The Army Corps of Engineers’ surveys included scientific studies of phenomena such as this unusual geological formation near Laguna, Colorado, on the 35th parallel. The expeditions reported their findings through data and written descriptions, and also with numerous detailed engravings, woodcuts, and lithographs.
Art by Heinrich B. Mollhausen, lithography by Thomas S. Sinclair
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
Color lithograph, “A Conical Hill 500 Feet High,” U.S. Pacific Railroad Explorations and Surveys, ca. 1855
A Railroad to the Pacific
Settlement of the western territories in the 1850s increased the need for efficient rail transport to the Pacific Coast, but members of Congress could not agree on what route it should follow. Northern members wanted a northern route; southern members sought one advantageous to their region's interests. To inform this debate, in 1853 Congress authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to survey four potential rail routes. Intense sectionalism blocked further legislation until southern states seceded. In 1862, a northern-controlled Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act.
The Army Corps of Engineers’ surveys included scientific studies of phenomena such as this unusual geological formation near Laguna, Colorado, on the 35th parallel. The expeditions reported their findings through data and written descriptions, and also with numerous detailed engravings, woodcuts, and lithographs.
Art by Heinrich B. Mollhausen, lithography by Thomas S. Sinclair
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
