Howard Stansbury facts for kids

Howard Stansbury (born February 8, 1806 – died April 17, 1863) was an important engineer in the U.S. Army. He is best known for leading a two-year trip from 1849 to 1851. His mission was to map the Great Salt Lake and the areas around it.

His detailed report, published in 1852, was called Exploration and survey of the valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah. It was the first serious scientific study of the plants and animals in the Great Salt Lake Valley. The report also shared a good impression of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who had settled there starting in 1847.

Early Life and Engineering Work

Howard Stansbury was born in 1806 in New York City. He studied to become a civil engineer. In 1828, he joined the Topographical Bureau, which was a government group that mapped land.

As an engineer, he surveyed the James River in 1836. He also mapped the Illinois and Kaskaskia Rivers in 1837. In 1838, he managed the building of a road from Milwaukee to the Mississippi River. In July 1838, he became a first lieutenant in the new U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers. With this group, he mapped the Great Lakes in 1841. He also did a big survey of the Portsmouth, New Hampshire harbor between 1842 and 1845. In 1848, he started work on the Carysfort Reef Light in Florida. During the Mexican–American War, he helped build forts in the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Stansbury Expedition to Utah

In 1849, Stansbury received orders to travel from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. His main goal was to map the Great Salt Lake in Utah. He also needed to check the trails used by people moving west, like the Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail. Another task was to look for good places for a transcontinental railroad, which would cross the entire country.

The expedition team had 18 men. Lieutenant John Williams Gunnison was the second-in-command. For the next two years, the team explored the Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, and the Cache Valley in northern Utah. They even went as far as Fort Hall in southern Idaho.

When Stansbury arrived in the Utah Territory, the Mormon leaders were worried. They thought the U.S. government might be trying to force the settlers out. Stansbury met with Brigham Young, who was the leader of the settlers. Stansbury told him that the expedition was only for science. Young then assigned his personal secretary, Albert Carrington, to help the expedition.

Stansbury wrote in his report:

This promise was given with all their heart and was kept faithfully. I am happy to say that the president and all the main leaders of the community showed great interest and gave strong help for our well-being and for the success of our work.

After finishing their mission in Utah, the expedition started their journey back east to Leavenworth. Instead of taking the usual Oregon Trail route from Fort Bridger over South Pass, Stansbury wanted to find a more direct way east. He listened to advice from Jim Bridger and other local guides. The expedition followed the Blacks Fork River east. They crossed the Green River near the town of Green River, Wyoming. Then, they went east along the Bitter Creek valley, crossed the Red Desert, and went around the north side of Elk Mountain across the Laramie Plains. They crossed the Laramie Mountains and reached Fort Laramie. From there, they joined the Oregon Trail heading east.

Stansbury was very pleased with this new route. He wrote:

We have now finished our exploration for a new route from the Pacific waters to a point where we can see its results. It is very pleasing to say that these results are highly satisfying, even more than I expected. We found a usable route through the Rocky Mountains. It is sixty miles south of the path usually taken, and it is much more direct.

Later Years and Legacy

After the Utah expedition, Stansbury managed building projects in Minnesota and Ohio. During the early years of the American Civil War, he briefly served as an officer in Columbus, Ohio and Wisconsin. He passed away in Madison on April 13, 1863.

The Stansbury expedition to Utah was a huge success for science. He was the first to figure out that the Great Salt Lake was actually what was left of a much larger freshwater lake from long ago. Today, this ancient lake is called Lake Bonneville. The way he used triangulation to map the lake was new for the Topographical Corps. This method then became a standard way of mapping for the Corps and later for the US Geological Survey.

The expedition collected many different kinds of birds, plants, lizards, and mammals. They also gathered rock samples and fossils. Several famous scientists of that time wrote comments in the expedition report. These included Spencer Fullerton Baird (who studied birds and fish), Charles Frédéric Girard (who studied fish and reptiles), John Torrey (a plant expert), and James Hall (paleontologist). Some new species were discovered and named after Stansbury, like the Uta stansburiana.

In the late 1850s, conflicts with Native Americans on the Oregon Trail made the government create a new trail. This trail went through Colorado and Wyoming and was called the Overland Trail. Between Laramie and Fort Bridger, this trail followed almost the exact path that Stansbury's expedition had mapped. In the 1860s, the First Transcontinental Railroad also followed this route through southern Wyoming and Utah. Stansbury had suggested the railroad go through Provo Canyon and south of the lake, but it actually went through Weber Canyon to the north. In the 20th century, two major highways, the Lincoln Highway and Interstate 80, also followed parts of his route.

Lieutenant Gunnison, Stansbury's second-in-command, wrote a book called The Mormons or Latter-Day Saints, in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. This book, along with the official expedition report, gave many Americans their first detailed look at the Mormon faith. In 1853, Gunnison returned to Utah to map a railroad route. Sadly, he and seven of his men were killed by a group of Pah Vants.

Places Named After Stansbury

The Stansbury expedition named many places in the Salt Lake Valley and nearby areas. Some islands in the Great Salt Lake are named after members of the expedition. These include Stansbury Island and Stansbury Bay, Carrington Island, and Gunnison Island. The Stansbury Mountain range is on the western side of the Tooele valley. The community of Stansbury Park, Utah and Stansbury High School are also in that valley. Besides the Uta stansburiana lizard, a plant called Purshia stansburyana (cliff-rose) was also named in Stansbury's honor.