William A. Richards Diaries of a Frontier Surveyor

These unique diaries give a vivid, you-are-there view of what surveyors went through during the westward expansion. Richards, who eventually becomes governor of Wyoming and commissioner of the U.S. General Land Office, tells his story, one day at a time. 

The 1869 diary covers his life in rural Wisconsin and frustration with teaching • Going west to the growing frontier town of Omaha • His surveying apprenticeship laying out townships for settlement.

His diaries from 1873 and 1874 cover the often perilous surveys of the rugged Southern and Western Boundaries of Wyoming Territory.

The 1884 and 1885 diaries cover his exploration of Wyoming's Bighorn Basin and his return to establish a homestead and begin the large-scale irrigation project that would finance the move. 

Through all the uncertainty, dangers and hardships, Richards keeps his sly sense of humor as he reveals a sometimes enchanting, sometimes harrowing tale of adventure, guts, and accomplishment. 

The occasional surveying terms are explained by Wyoming's Dr. Herbert W. Stoughton and others, in footnotes and in essays in the appendix. Dr. Stoughton has overseen surveying and mapping projects throughout the world, and frequently consulted throughout the U.S. on 17th through 20th century historical surveying matters.  

Enhancing the work are biographical articles, stories about surveyors' returns to the remote boundaries, among them the 1990s remonumentation campaign that included the state boundary "corners" established by William and his brother Alonzo, plus relevant letters and Richards's dramatic hunting stories.

The appendix features an essay and maps of Richards's Nebraska surveys by Gene A. Thomsen, a Nebraska deputy state surveyor and historian.

55 illustrations and photos, 22 in full color • 30 maps and diagrams

For excerpts from the diaries, see https://www.williamarichards.com/diaries-excerpts