United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey, a part of the Bureau of the Interior, was created by Congress in 1879 for the purpose of the classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain. As part of its survey, study and classification of the geology of the United States, the department has produced a vast photographic record, now housed in the U.S. Geological Survey Library in Lakewood, Colorado. The USGS photographic archive consists of more than 500,000 items and contains important early photographs of the American West by photographers such as William Henry Jackson, Timothy O Sullivan and Jack Hillers, who accompanied the great geological and geographical surveys of the West during 1870s and 1880s. The USGS has added continuously to this photographic archive until the present day.

From the description of United States Geological Survey photographs 1905-1945. (New Mexico State University). WorldCat record id: 775022685