ABSTRACT
Although John Wesley Powell is archetypal of Western pioneer geologists, he was by no means the first. The expeditions to the West in the early nineteenth century were mainly reconnaissances to discover the geographical location of resources and to test the possibilities of trade. The reports brought back encouraged the government to send out its own survey teams, the first being organized in 1834. But these parties lacked the services of skilled geologists. Consequently, from our point of view, the first notable journeys were those of Newberry and Hayden.
