fiscal year 1922 the Corps of Engineers had charge of the erection of two monuments outside the District of Columbia. These, which were in various stages of completion, were the McDonough Memorials at Lake Champlain, and the Monument on the battlefield of Princeton, New Jersey. Land Surveys. Fifty years ago among the most important activities of the Corps of Engineers were the surveys of the land between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. It has been many years since the Army engineers have made any of these explorations or surveys, and there seems to be little likelihood that they will make any in the future. Consequently only a mention of a few of the most prominent surveys will be included here. During the very early history of the country the surveys made of the western lands were undertaken for military as well as nonmilitary reasons. Perhaps the last survey made in which the military features were prominent was that made in 1849 by John C. Fremont, then a captain in the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Some very important surveys were made between 1853 and 1856" to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean." The reports covering the four routes that were surveyed were submitted to Congress by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis and with supplementary reports were published in thirteen quarto volumes. After the Civil War the Army engineers had charge of two very important surveys. One was "a geological and topographical exploration of the territory between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains including the route or routes of the Pacific Railroad." This survey was led by Clarence King, a civilian. The other was the geographical survey west of the One Hundredth Meridian, under the charge of Lieutenant Wheeler. This was primarily topographical, but included "all the information necessary before the settlement of the country concerning the branches of mineralogy and mining, geology, paleontology, zoology, botany, archæology, ethmology, philology, and ruins." These surveys preceded and were among the principal causes of the creation of the United States Geological Survey in 1879." 95 See Institute for Government Research, Monograph No. 1, The Geological Survey. Construction of Roads in National Parks. Among the minor activities of the Corps of Engineers until a few years ago was the construction of roads in various national parks. The most important and the last two instances of this work were in Yellowstone National Park and Crater Lake Mountain Park. The connection of the Army engineers with this work in Yellowstone National Park began as a result of an appropriation in the sundry civil act of March 3, 1883, directing the construction and improvement of suitable roads and bridges under the supervision of an engineer officer to be detailed by the Secretary of War. From then until 1918 the Corps of Engineers had charge of the construction, repair, and maintenance of roads and bridges. In 1918 the work was transferred to the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior which had been created two years previously." The road building work of the Corps of Engineers in Crater Lake National Park was of much shorter duration, as it did not begin until 1912. This was transferred to the National Park Service on July 1, 1919." The Panama Canal. Although it was never part of the work of the Office of the Chief of Engineers the construction of the Panama Canal was so intimately connected with the Corps of Engineers that some mention of it must be made. In 1899 the President was authorized to make an investigation as to the most practicable and feasible route for a trans-isthmian canal. To do this he appointed the first Isthmian Canal Commission, composed of nine members, among whom were representatives of the Corps of Engineers. The commission was reorganized in 1905, and in its new form the Army engineers were again represented. A radical change was made in 1907, when the civilian leadership was replaced. The new commission was composed of government officers and was attached to the War Department under the immediate orders of the Secretary of War. It had seven members, three of whom including the chairman were from the Corps of Engineers. In the following year the appointment of another engineer officer to take the place of one of the commissioners who resigned gave the Corps of Engineers a majority of the commission. It was under this commission that most of the construction was done and the canal completed in 1914. Other officers were detailed from the Office of the Chief of Engineers to work under the Panama Canal Commission, there being thirteen in 1909 and approximately that number until the work was finished. After the canal was completed and in operation the contact of the Corps of Engineers with it was not severed, as so far each of the governors of the Canal Zone has been an officer detailed from the Corps of Engineers. There have also been other officers assigned to duty in the Canal Zone. The annual report of the Chief of Engineers for 1922 shows that there were three engineer officers so engaged on June 30, 1922. CHAPTER II ACTIVITIES In the preceding chapter an account has been given of the history and development of the non-military activities of the Office of the Chief of Engineers. In this chapter each of the activities now engaged in will be treated in turn and the attempt will be made to indicate the method of its performance. The following brief outline gives the different civilian activities under the Chief of Engineers and indicates what is done under each head: 1. River and harbor improvements Construction of new works Preliminary examinations Surveys and estimates Construction Maintenance of works Operation of some works. Collection and report of information Regulation Rules for the use and navigation of navigable waters Establishment of anchorage grounds Approval of plans for structures in navigable waters 2. Branches of river and harbor work Mississippi River Commission Plans and estimates Construction and maintenance of works California Debris Commission Regulation of hydraulic mining Improvement of rivers Removal of sunken vessels Supervision of the harbor of New York Regulation of all dumping Prevention of illegal dumping 62 Bridging navigable waters of the United States Alteration of bridges obstructing navigation Supervision of water power companies 3. Related Activities Permanent International Commission of the Congresses of American delegates 4. The United States Lake Survey Field Work Printing and distribution of charts 5. Activities in the District of Columbia Care of public buildings and grounds Maintenance of part of the water system Care and construction of Aqueduct and Georgetown bridges 6. Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska Plans and estimates for roads Construction and maintenance of roads 7. Erection of monuments outside the District of Columbia River and Harbor Improvements. The most important of all the non-military activities of the Corps of Engineers, coming under the head of river and harbor improvements, are similar in some respects to those of a construction corporation or any other large engineering organization. A description of these activities must be made in general terms because each of the many different river and harbor improvements has individual characteristics and technical problems. But although the details are different, the same operations are carried on in each case. As a rule each project undertaken by the Corps of Engineers has been preceded by years of discussion by citizens in the various communities interested. Many alternative schemes have usually been suggested and presented season after season to the appropriate congressional committee. Finally, the matter may be seriously |