Geological Exploration as Related to Railroad Development in Kansas and the Western United States

Preliminary geologic reconnaissance of Kansas and the western United States tended to develop in concert with preliminary railroad surveys and later construction. Developing railroads had immediate needs for coal, water, dimension stone, and ballast stone for construction purposes and long-term interest in any mineral resource that might generate shipping revenue to the completed road. Military expeditions as early as S. H. Long's 1819-20 tour reported occurrences of such geologic resources as coal on the western plains near the Rocky Mountain front. Interest in a transcontinental railroad in the 1850's caused the Congress to order a series of Pacific railroad surveys which included possible construction routes and reports by J. H. Schiel on the various mineral and fuel resources along these routes. Early detailed knowledge of stratigraphy developed from railroad coal mines and examination of stone quarries opened for construction. Geologists such as Orestes H. St. John worked first on government surveys and then went to work for railways as company geologists. Ease of travel plus fresh exposures in cuts and quarries caused considerable geologic work to be done immediately along the right-of-way in Kansas and other areas. General public interest culminated in a series of U. S. Geological Survey bulletins written on the geology of major western U. S. rail routes in the 1920's. Railroads with large land holdings in the West formed geologic staffs to explore and develop those properties - a process which continues today.