The field book documents Fielding Meek's participation in David Dale Owen's Survey, 1848-1849, which covered the states of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Front of notebook has short notes about the trip including the name of their American Indian guide, American Indian names of rivers, cross sections of strata with detailed notes, and table for dates June 25 - July 14 (lists time, temperature, WB, wind, clouds, direction and location). Journal entries follow. They are listed by date, and detail daily activities, efforts to travel rivers to observe extent of beds of limestone and sandstone, interactions of survey participants and locals. Meek includes distances traveled and descriptions of types of stone, strata, and fossils found (trilobites mentioned). Locations include Yellow River, Saint Croix River, Namekagon, Snake River, Lac Pokegama, Knife River and Lac Traverse. Back of the book includes notes about trilobites, sketches, hand drawn maps, list of expenses.
Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.
