Praise for Diaries of a Frontier Surveyor

The diaries of William A. Richards, enriched with related information, are an invaluable contribution to Wyoming history and Americana. This work sheds light on an often-overlooked group of pioneers and gives us the first extensive portrait of an extraordinary individual. Published articles have not done justice to a remarkable career in surveying, ranching, journalism, and high public office.

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It is also a good read. Fortunately, as a teenager, Richards initiated a diary and over the decades faithfully and articulately documented the world around him, often with a sly sense of humor.

“William A. Richards, Surveyor to Statesman” by Dennis Bland sets the stage, followed by other biographical articles. As governor of Wyoming, Richards promoted irrigation and conservation of forest and range; as commissioner of the General Land Office under President Theodore Roosevelt his efforts led to the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allowed presidents to set aside national monuments.

Part 1 (1869-70) delves into Richards’ search for employment in frontier Omaha and his life as an entry-level surveyor in central-western Nebraska. Encounters with bison and fears of encounters with native warriors appear amid his keen observations of field conditions and frontier folk.

Part 2 (1873-74) covers the surveys of the rugged southern and western boundaries of Wyoming under the contractor, Richards’ elder brother, Alonzo. Almost every page reveals hazards and impediments. There were no eight-hour work days, no GPS, no trails or roads or medical facilities or stores nearby when accidents happened or food ran low. Could today’s readers endure receiving one meal a day of scant rations, sleep in a tent that might offer little protection from severe rainstorms; wear cold, wet clothing and footwear sometimes for several days; and often spend 18 to 24 hours working without food and rest stops? There was no minimum wage then, and the deputy surveyor did not become wealthy. Indeed, he would have been ruined financially if disaster kept him from completing his contract. Among the many close calls noted in the diaries was the 1874 Snake River crossing that could have swept away his mules and supplies.

Part 3 covers the trouble surveyors went to in locating and reestablishing markers from 1906 to 2019 on the still nearly inaccessible Wyoming boundaries. Most notable was the crusade of surveyor Paul Scherbel of Big Piney to “remonument" the eight state boundary markers.

Part 4 (1884-85) shifts focus to Richards’ exploration of Wyoming's Bighorn Basin and his relocation there. The country and its settlers are noted, along with the trials, economic challenges, and daily life of a pioneer. As with the other diaries, the background story of what he and his family experienced was drawn from his personal papers.

Part 5 features revealing writings by Richards and others, among them letters to his wife and President U.S. Grant, his account of a disastrous flash flood when he was surveyor general of Wyoming, hunting stories and an anecdote by Gifford Pinchot.

Part 6, the appendix, resulted from Lucia McCreery’s collaboration with land surveyors and historical experts who provided maps, contract details, and technical insights into the era’s surveying methods, instrumentation and astronomical principles.

The author, Richards’ great-granddaughter, a retired journalist, meticulously executed this book. It stands out for its commitment to historical accuracy, with no fictional embellishments. The depth of her research is documented in the detailed Sources and Notes, footnotes, and illustrations (many of them in color).

Hardy pioneers helped temper a population (called Americans) who would address the adversities of the twentieth century. Too few of their first-hand accounts survive, and we are fortunate to have these.

—Annals of Wyoming, the Wyoming History Journal, Fall 2024

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It is odd that those who have literally set the lines and boundaries of our country step-by-step, chain-by-chain, have had so relatively few books written about their adventures and trials. Lucia McCreery’s edifying book about her great-grandfather aims to address this wrong, and provides much detail of the life of early western surveyors in doing so. The lion’s share of the text reproduces, with useful annotation where needed, the diaries of William A. Richards, a representative “jack of all trades” in his youth who, through education and determination, would map, along with his brother, the southern and western boundaries of Wyoming in 1873 and 1874, become Surveyor General of Wyoming then Governor of the state from 1895 to 1898, and cap his career as Commissioner of the U.S. General Land Office.

While his work past the 104th meridian is fascinating in itself, his time in Nebraska—which began in 1869 with weeks of general unemployment and subsequent “odd jobs” in that bustling and somewhat uncouth town of Omaha—is of special note, for he spent late 1869 through 1871 surveying Lincoln and Dawson counties, as well as areas along Republican River, his first official government work. Frank reports of the losses of crew members, scares with buffalo and Native Americans, the prevalence of “dry” camps (those with no water) and the accompanying fears of not finding any the next day, and limited knowledge of family and national news until those “wonderful letters” came make for fascinating reading. One must appreciate Richards having the time, or the strength, to write in his diaries: a standard day required “chaining” (the literal laying of a chain of 66' on the ground, quite difficult in some terrains) 15 miles, and, many days, factoring in forward reconnaissance, rechecking of lines, and search for game, amounted to Richards covering 40 or more miles on foot. Maps of these areas at the end of the book showing the sections and townships surveyed illustrate the seemingly endless delimiting of space with which Richards was faced.

His diaries of the Wyoming surveys, contracted by his brother, “Lon” (Alonzo), but with William as its de facto “general” [on the 1874 survey], show the extreme difficulties in simply trying to “shoot” a line (set a straight course) in that imposing terrain, let alone keep to their bearing. Trees and rocks blocked the way; clouds prevented astronomical orientation; mosquitoes plagued them; rivers had to be crossed; and constant was the need to find materials for mileposts and corner “monumentation” (this latter, the setting of as permanent-as-possible corners via a combination of blazed wood, a large rock pile, and an inscribed flat stone, is further described via stories of individuals and parties in Wyoming searching for these in the 1990s and their official “remonumentations”). The diaries give insight into the care and detail of the man as he explains the work of each day down “to the link” while also expressing his thoughts and emotions.
 

The last sections of the book recount Richards’ move to the Big Horn Basin in 1884 as well as his anecdotes as hunter, surveyor-by-hire for local landowners, and traveler in that just-being-settled region of Wyoming. McCreery is careful to incorporate surveying methodology in her annotations and appendix, with descriptions of instruments, tools, and crew/party members responsibilities, as well as providing (albeit somewhat erudite) information by Herbert Stoughton on taking celestial observations, calculating parallels, and evaluating equipment and their associated methods. The ample source material from Richards himself, the wide range of supplemental material, and competent editing and explanation by the author make for a text that provides a well-deserved recognition of both William A. Richards himself, but also of those ready surveyors, from chiefs to axemen, who “lined” our maps.

—Nebraska History Magazine, Fall 2024

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The book is also reviewed on Wyohistory.org:
https://www.wyohistory.org/blog/william-richards-diaries-frontier-surveyor-nebraska-and-wyoming