United States exploring expedition (1838-1842)

The United States Exploring Expedition under the command of Charles Wilkes left U.S.A. Aug. 1838, returning July 1842. The ships in the expedition were the Flying Fish, Oregon, Peacock, Porpoise, Relief, Seagull and Vincennes. The expedition visited the Antarctic, Sydney Harbour, Bay of Islands, N.Z., various islands in the Pacific and areas on the coast of South America and U.S.A.

The U. S. Exploring Expedition ("Wilkes Expedition") was the first attempt by the United States to undertake an expedition for scientific and navigational investigations on the order of contemporaneous British and French expeditions. The expedition sailed from the Chesapeake Bay on August 18, 1838 under the command of Charles Wilkes. It proceeded to Madeira, Cape Verde, South America, Antarctica, Pacific Islands, Australia, Oregon and California coast, Hawaii, Philippines, Singapore, around the Cape of Good Hope, St. Helena and returned to New York in June 1842. Botanical collections were made by William Rich, William Dunlop Brackenridge, Charles Pickering and others, including naval officers. Asa Gray assisted in producing the first botanical report (1854), with other botanists' reports appearing between 1854 and 1874.

The United States Exploring Expedition, also known as the Wilkes Expedition, was authorized by an act of Congress in 1836 as "a surveying and exploring expedition to the Pacific Ocean and South Seas." It was prompted by a desire to obtain information concerning an area which was rapidly becoming of interest to American traders and whalers. A contingent of scientists accompanied the expedition, commanded by Drayton, JosephLieutenant Charles Wilkes of the United States Navy, including Charles Pickering, Titian Ramsay Peale, Joseph Pitty Couthouy, James Dwight Dana, William Rich, William Dunlop Brackenridge, and Horatio Hale. In addition to the scientists, two illustrators, Joseph Drayton and Alfred T. Agate, also accompanied the expedition. The expedition, which consisted of five ships and crews provided by the United States Navy, sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, in August, 1838. By the time it returned to New York in June, 1842, it had visited and explored Madeira, both coasts of South America, Tierra del Fuego, the South Pacific islands, Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, the Hawaiian Islands, Oregon, California, the Philippine Islands, Singapore, the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena. Wilkes' voyage along the Antarctic coast during the expedition established the existence of that continent. During the voyage, the scientists gathered specimens and studied the flora and fauna of each place visited. At various points along the route specimens were packed and sent back to the United States. Eventually, the specimens were installed in the Great Hall of the Patent Office. They remained there until their removal to the Smithsonian Institution in 1858.