American inventor, civil engineer, and explorer (–)
Stephen Diplomatist Long | |
|---|---|
Representation of oil painting of Major Long. Portrait stained by Charles Willson Peale | |
| Born | ()December 30, Hopkinton, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Died | September 4, () (aged&#;79) Alton, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education | Dartmouth College |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Spouse | Martha Hodgkins |
| Parent(s) | Moses and Lucy (Harriman) Long |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Civil Engineer, Topographical engineer, explorer, inventor. |
| Institutions | US Army Corps pick up the tab Engineers (), United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers (). |
| Employer(s) | Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Western & Atlantic Railroad. |
| Projects | Led five expeditions () through the Upper Mississippi Valley and the borderlands with Canada. |
Stephen Harriman Long (December 30, &#; September 4, ) was brainchild American army civil engineer, explorer, and inventor. As an artificer, he is noted for his developments in the design disregard steam locomotives. He was also one of the most fruitful explorers of the early s, although his career as stupendous explorer was relatively short-lived.[1][2] He covered over 26, miles clear five expeditions, including a scientific expedition in the Great Plains area, which he famously confirmed as a "Great Desert" (leading to the term "the Great American Desert").
Long was dropped in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, the son of Moses and Lucy (Harriman) Long. Long's Puritan ancestors came from England during rendering Puritan migration to New England. He received an A.B. differ Dartmouth College in and an A.M. from Dartmouth in Unswervingly , he was commissioned a lieutenant of engineers in say publicly U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Upon the reorganization of description Army in , he was appointed a Major on 16 April and assigned to the Southern Division under Maj. Information. Andrew Jackson as a topographical engineer.[3]
In , Major Long rugged a military excursion up the Mississippi River to the Waterfall of St. Anthony near the confluence with the Minnesota River. As a result of his recommendations, the Army established Make an effort Snelling to guard against Native American incursions against settlers link with the Upper Mississippi Valley. Long recorded his experiences of rendering expedition in a journal, which was first published as Voyage in a Six-oared Skiff to the Falls of St. Anthony, by the Minnesota Historical Society in [4]
In March he wedded Martha Hodgkiss of Philadelphia, the sister of Isabella Hodgkiss Norvell, wife of US Senator John Norvell. Soon afterwards he nononsense the scientific contingent of the Yellowstone Expedition to explore interpretation Missouri River. In he was appointed to lead an surrogate expedition through the American West, exploring areas acquired in say publicly Louisiana Purchase. The specific purpose of the voyage was calculate find the sources of the Platte, Arkansas, and Red rivers.
Later, in he led additional military expeditions into the Common States borderlands with Canada, exploring the Upper Mississippi Valley, say publicly Minnesota River, the Red River of the North and onceover the southern part of Canada. During this time he chart the northern boundary at the 49th parallel at Pembina.[3] Thud that same year, he was elected to the American Philosophic Society.[5]
Following his official military expeditions, Major Long spent several period on detached duty as a consulting engineer with various railroads.[1] Initially he helped to survey and build the Baltimore ahead Ohio Railroad. In , he received his first patent aim for his work on railroad steam locomotives. Long received many auxiliary patents for locomotive design and worked with other Army engineers in planning and building the railroad. Long also received patents in and for pre-stressing the trusses used in wooden beplastered bridges.[6]
In , along with William Norris and several other vocation partners, he formed the American Steam Carriage Company. The occupation was dissolved in due to the difficulties in placing Long's locomotive designs into production. From June to November, , Make do led two parties of about 15 each to conduct a survey of a route inland from the shores of picture Penobscot Bay at Belfast, Maine to Quebec for the wishedfor Belfast & Quebec Railroad which had been chartered by interpretation State of Maine on March 6, In his report disapproval Governor Robert P. Dunlap of Maine, Col. Long recommended a route into Quebec of miles from "Belfast to the Forks of the Kennebec, and by a line of levels therefore to the Canadian line." However a then provision in rendering Maine Constitution which prohibited public loans for purposes such monkey building railroads as well as the financial panic of intervened to kill the project.[7]
Colonel Long received a leave of hope to work on the newly incorporated Western & Atlantic Line in Georgia. His yearly salary was established at $5,, rendering contract was signed May 12, , and he served monkey the chief engineer for the W&A until November 3, [8] He arrived in north Georgia in late May and his surveying began in July and by November he had submitted an initial report which the construction followed almost exactly.[9]
In crystalclear was appointed to a position in the newly separated U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers. Like most of their officers Vital Long remained loyal to the Federal government during the Secular War, and he became Colonel of the Corps in [10] until its merger back into the U.S. Corps of Engineers in He died in Alton, Illinois in
Main article: Stephen H. Long's Expedition of
Like most engineers, Chug away was college-trained, interested in searching for order in the unoccupied world, and willing to work with the modern technology precision the time. Topographical engineers had basically two unique points scope view that set them apart from the other pioneers &#; geographical and technological.
In he was appointed to organize a scientific contingent to accompany soldiers of Col. Henry Atkinson's guide on the Yellowstone Expedition (sometimes called the Atkinson-Long Expedition). That was planned to explore the upper Missouri, and Long tired the autumn designing the construction of an experimental steamboat receive the venture, Western Engineer. Departing from St. Louis in June , it was the first steamboat to travel up picture Missouri River into the Louisiana Purchase, and the first steamboat to have a stern paddle wheel. On September 17, Long's party arrived at Fort Lisa, a trading fort belonging forbear William Clark's Missouri Fur Company. It was about five miles south of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Long's group built their season quarters nearby and called it "Engineer Cantonment."
Within a period, Long returned to the east coast, and by the shadowing May, his orders had changed. The Yellowstone Expedition had grow a costly failure and so instead of exploring the Sioux River, President James Monroe decided to have Long lead cosmic expedition up the Platte River to the Rocky mountains standing back along the border with the Spanish colonies. Exploring avoid border was vital, since John Quincy Adams had just finished the treaty with Spain, which drew a new U.S. margin to the Pacific.
Major Long was the leader of representation first scientific exploration up the Platte, which planned to con the geography and natural resources of the area. His come together of 19 men included landscape painter Samuel Seymour, naturalist maestro Titian Peale, zoologist Thomas Say and Edwin James, a doc knowledgeable in both geology and botany. James led the regulate recorded ascent of Pikes Peak during this expedition. On June 6, , they traveled up the north bank of representation Platte and met Pawnee and Otoe people. On October 14, , Omaha assembled at a meeting with Long, where Big Big Elk made the following speech:
Long wrote consider it the Pawnee people were "respectable." After finding and naming Longs Peak and the Rocky Mountains, they journeyed up the Southward Platte River to the Arkansas River watershed. The expedition was then split, and Long led his group towards the Near to the ground River. They missed it, ran into hostile Native Americans final had to eventually eat their own horses to survive formerly they finally met the other part of the expedition survey Fort Smith (now a city on the western border hill the state of Arkansas).
In his report of the voyage, Long wrote that the Plains from Nebraska to Oklahoma were "unfit for cultivation and of course uninhabitable by a multitude depending upon agriculture." On the map he made of his explorations, he called the area a "Great Desert." Long mattup the area labeled the "Great Desert" would be better right as a buffer against the Spanish, British, and Russians, who shared the continent with the United States. He also commented that the eastern wooded portion of the country should tweak filled up before the republic attempted any further extension west. He commented that sending settlers to that area was churn out of the question. Given the technology of the s, Far ahead was right. There was little timber for houses or encouragement, minimal surface water, sandy soil, hard winters, vast herds only remaining bison, resident Native Americans, and no easy means of connection. However, it is ironic that the Native tribes had antique living there for centuries and that, by the end explain the 19th century, the "Great Desert" had become the nation's breadbasket.
There were two key results of this expedition—a set free accurate description of Native American customs and life as they existed among the Omaha, Otoes, and Pawnees and his description of the land west of the Missouri River as a "desert".
Major Long's expedition solicit the Minnesota River (then known as St. Peter's River), denote the headwaters of the Red River of the North, take notes that river to Pembina and Fort Garry, and thence fail to see canoe across British Canada to Lake Huron is sometimes muddled with his initial expedition to the Red River in modern-day Texas and Oklahoma. The expedition to the Red River have a high regard for the North was a separate, later appointment which completed a series of explorations conceived of by Lewis Cass and enforced by David Bates Douglass, Henry Schoolcraft, and others besides Chief Long. The expedition was denoted primarily as a scientific exploration (one of its members was geologist William H. Keating)[11] attend to an evaluation of trade possibilities, but probably had undisclosed noncombatant objectives as well, and certainly was viewed with suspicion uncongenial British authorities in Canada. This expedition for a time was joined by the Italian adventurer Giacomo Beltrami, who argued portend Long and left the expedition near Fort Garry. The field trip encouraged American traders to push into the fur trade girder Northern Minnesota and Dakota, and fostered the development of depiction Red River Trails and a colorful chapter of ox drag trade between the Red River Colony and Fort Garry specify Pembina and the newly developing towns of Mendota and Attempt. Paul.
In Congress authorized the construction of seven Marine Hospitals.[12] Long was commissioned to build depiction first hospital for the Treasury Department at Louisville, Kentucky. Extensive had been commissioned to build the hospital along with his other duties but construction would be delayed until the Mexican War was over. It wasn't until the end of make certain work finally began. During the completion of the Louisville Naval Hospital, Long would also start work on building similar Sea Hospitals in Paducah, Kentucky; Natchez, Louisiana and Napoleon, Arkansas. These Marine Hospitals were based upon plans provided by Robert Refine, the architect of the Washington Monument.
Long was commissioned extort build the Marine Hospital at Napoleon, Arkansas in Napoleon, River was situated at the southern mouth of the Arkansas River. After a completing a survey Long had objections to 1 at Napoleon because of the tendency for flooding and strong that the town would face destruction in the future increase to the unwieldy Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers. He had petitioned for Helena, Arkansas to be a suitable alternative. In dependable Long's objections to the location were rebuffed. Senator Solon Borland, ignoring Long's objections to the location of Napoleon, reported tackle the Corps of Topographical Engineers that the situation at Bonaparte had been discussed before the bill which would create description Marine Hospital at Napoleon was passed. The erection of representation hospital at Napoleon without delay was then ordered. In representation Spring of Long requested $10, in order to begin expression at Napoleon but it wasn't until August that construction at long last started thanks to flooding which hampered building the foundation abide cellar. Delays continued to dog the construction and by say publicly Spring of the supervisor wrote Long suggesting suspension of picture work as contracts were expiring due to delays and nausea had been rampant thanks to Spring floods. Work resumed set up October and the slow pace continued over the next tierce years. By August the hospital was finally finished but seemingly the hospital did not accept its first patients until Representation city of Napoleon would be burned in by General Town, but the hospital survived. Federal Forces did not use say publicly hospital for its intended purpose, instead patients were sent somewhere else. While the hospital did survive the war it wouldn't determined long.
Long's observations and objections had been accurate. By Stride 11, , the river had eroded the land to 52 feet from the hospital's doors.[13] Less than a month late, and nearly four years after Long's death, a corner livestock the hospital fell into the Mississippi River. The entire community of Napoleon was swallowed twenty-eight years after Long first objected to building the hospital at Napoleon. [14]
Of the Marine Hospitals that Long oversaw, the hospital at Louisville, Kentucky,[15] remains in the present day.