The Best and Brightest of His Generation

Clarence King, an ambitious, self-assured young geologist, was offspring of a well-connected but impoverished Newport, Rhode Island family.  He graduated Yale's Sheffield Scientific School in 1863, and a year later he had crossed the continent and volunteered for a state sponsored survey of California. 

During that survey, King came up with the idea that would make him famous - a scientific survey of a 100 mile wide stretch of land along the Union Pacific Rail Line, extending from the Colorado Rockies to the Sierra Nevada.  The object?  To examine and describe the geographical structure, condition and natural resources of the area.  It would examine "rock formations, mountain ranges, coal deposits...and make collections in botany and zoology." 

When King was 25 years old, he became chief of the Geological and Geographical Exploration of the 40th Parallel.  His survey was the first expedition by a civilian.  His staff included botanists, geologists, and mineralogists.  By the time the survey ended a decade later, they had done in-depth studies of everything from rainfall to mineral deposits, from fauna to topography, covering eastern Colorado to the California Sierras.

Like many early explorations of America there were perils.  In 1869 while exploring Nevada's Humboldt Sink, so many members contracted malaria that they all retreated  into the mountains to recover.  King was struck by lightning, turning parts of his body brown in Truckee Canyon. 

In 1870 King climbed Mount Shasta and discovered three active glaciers, dispelling the prevailing belief that no glaciers remained within the United States.  In 1878 King was granted directorship of the new U.S Geological Survey, being called the "best and brightest man of his generation."

Next time...The Wonders of Yellowstone
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On December 3, 1818, Illinois became the 21st state.  Though Illinois presented unique challenges to immigrants unaccustomed to the soil and vegetation of the area, it grew to become a bustling and densely populated state