John W. Hurn
Carte-de-Visite of Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, Geologist-in-Charge, c. 1865
Albumen print
Overall 4 x 2 1/2 inches
With Hurn's credit stamp verso.
With Hurn's credit stamp verso.
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The 1871 Hayden Survey was a geological survey conducted by geologist, Ferdinand Hayden, of the land that would later become Yellowstone National Park. Hired by the U.S. government, Hayden traversed...
The 1871 Hayden Survey was a geological survey conducted by geologist, Ferdinand Hayden, of the land that would later become Yellowstone National Park. Hired by the U.S. government, Hayden traversed massive terrain of northwest Wyoming and other nearby regions in Montana and Idaho on horseback. He was accompanied by a diverse team of 32 experts and work staff, which included the painter Thomas Moran and the photographer William Henry Jackson, that would send shipments of specimens, samples, and photographs to the Smithsonian Institution for further study. The survey team departed on June 1, 1871 and would go on for six months total. Hayden’s assessment concluded that the land was not suited for industrial uses such as agriculture, mining, or manufacturing; and should be preserved. Hayden gathered people of power – including Congressmen and an investment banker with ties to the Northern Pacific Railroad, and leveraged his friendship with Ulysses S. Grant – to lobby for the creation and protection of Yellowstone National Park. Hayden’s connections and devotion; coupled with the beautiful photography, paintings, and wealth of scientific information accumulated from his survey; helped to establish the first U.S. National Park on March 1, 1872.
Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden was born on September 7, 1829 in Westfield, Massachusetts. He studied at Oberlin College and Albany Medical College. He embarked on multiple geological explorations in New York, Nebraska Territory, and Dakota Territory before serving as the chief medical officer during the Civil War. After the war, Hayden was appointed by the government as the geologist of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories in 1867. Hayden’s survey of the Rocky Mountains landed him among the ranks of other explorers of the American West at the time of rapid expansion due to railroads such as John Wesley Powell, Clarence King, George Wheeler, who also came up during the rapid expansion of the U.S. due to railroads. After Yellowstone, Hayden’s final survey came in 1878. And he died on December 22, 1887 in Philadelphia. His contributions to science are honored through various awards and in the names of multiple mountain peaks, species, a town in Colorado, and Hayden Valley in Yellowstone. Most of his field notes and findings remain in the Smithsonian Institute’s collection.
Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden was born on September 7, 1829 in Westfield, Massachusetts. He studied at Oberlin College and Albany Medical College. He embarked on multiple geological explorations in New York, Nebraska Territory, and Dakota Territory before serving as the chief medical officer during the Civil War. After the war, Hayden was appointed by the government as the geologist of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories in 1867. Hayden’s survey of the Rocky Mountains landed him among the ranks of other explorers of the American West at the time of rapid expansion due to railroads such as John Wesley Powell, Clarence King, George Wheeler, who also came up during the rapid expansion of the U.S. due to railroads. After Yellowstone, Hayden’s final survey came in 1878. And he died on December 22, 1887 in Philadelphia. His contributions to science are honored through various awards and in the names of multiple mountain peaks, species, a town in Colorado, and Hayden Valley in Yellowstone. Most of his field notes and findings remain in the Smithsonian Institute’s collection.