A Coast Survey chart of...Wyoming? It turns out that Congress appropriated $200,000 "for the purpose of securing a series of astronomical and meteorological observations at some elevated point on or near the (Union) Pacific Railway." The team selected Sherman Station, which was the highest railway station in the world at the time. The map shows the railroad line, elevation, the observatory, base stations, and unnamed individual buildings. Triangulations and topography were performed by B.A. Colonna under the supervision of R.D. Cutts. This map was a precursor to the kind of work the Survey would embrace when it was renamed the Coast & Geodetic Survey in 1878.

For a contemporary account of the survey work, click here.

References:

Condition: B+

Issued folding with light toning along the fold lines.