Spencer McCutcheon is a land surveyor with Apex Engineering. He’s been surveying for about seven years and has been licensed for three years. Spencer also loves history; this drove him to learn more about his family and, through his research, to discover that, among other things, he is the fourth greatnephew of Orson Pratt, who was also a surveyor. During the Fall 2019 National Historical Society Convention, Spencer gave a presentation on the history of Orson Pratt’s surveying and the influence he had on establishing Utah and the Western U.S. The following is, in part, the presentation that was given. Orson Pratt was born on September 19, 1811, in Harford, New York. Orson always loved school — he loved to learn, and his education was of the utmost importance to him. But he had to help his family and was required to work as a farmhand, and that took up a lot of his time. Orson’s goals of education were delayed, and in his own words, he said, “I was obligated to perform farm boy duties for various neighboring farms. Starting in spring and extended to the fall, which limited the time that I was able to dedicate to studies.” Orson continued with his education and farm work through his adolescence. Eventually, he enrolled in a boarding school in 1829 at the age of 18. Orson mentioned how much education meant to him and said, “I have made myself thoroughly acquainted with geography, grammar, arithmetic, bookkeeping and surveying.” Orson took his knowledge of mathematics, geography, and surveying to the next level when he became a Professor at the University of the City of Nauvoo, where he was tasked to help educate the members of his faith. During his time as a Professor, Orson applied his knowledge and skills to help others by publishing his first almanac. In August 1844, Orson published the Prophetic Almanac for the year 1845. He then published his second almanac in August 1845. These almanacs had a lot of material on eclipses and when and where they could be observed; the expected time of sunrise, sunset and appearance of the moon; and spiritual thoughts and impressions he had. During this time, tensions towards the LDS Saints began to increase, forcing them to look for a new land in the west. On Feb. 14, 1846, the Saints started leaving Nauvoo. Orson wrote in his journal about the weather during this time of persecution, saying, “Last night it commenced snowing. The falling of the snow and a cold northwest wind have made the weather very disagreeable.” Orson also wrote about the cold weather, saying, “The temperature at six am was five degrees above zero. The Mississippi froze over, and the ice soon became sufficiently firm for the crossing of teams.” Orson also told of some hardships as they were on their trek west. One entry talks about how the buffalo affected the cattle and the company. He wrote, “During the whole day innumerable herds of buffalo were in sight on both sides of the river. Many hundreds feeding within a quarter mile of our road did not seem to be alarmed at our approach. During the time of our halts, we had to watch our cattle to keep them from mingling with the buffalo. I think I may safely say that I have seen 10,000 buffalo during the day. …” Even with all the persecution and the unknown future for the Saints, Orson still had a great attitude and continued his passion for surveying and astronomy. Orson was included in one of the first groups to travel west. He was given charge of surveying instruments such as the quadrant, artificial horizon of quicksilver, a sextant and telescopes. During the journey, Orson was to make observations and record information about the trip for future travelers and saints that followed the same trail west. These observations and notes were a crucial part of the success of the other companies as they headed West. Field Notes At the beginning of the saint’s journey west, Orson did not possess the most current and precise equipment at the time, making his observations even less precise than what was possible. He still did as instructed and made observations along the way. In early 1846, Orson wrote, “During our stay at Sugar Creek, I obtained, by means of a quadrant and an artificial horizon of quicksilver, a meridian observation of the Sun from which I deduced the Latitude of the camp and found the same 40°32’.” Photo courtesy of Internet Archive, ark:/13960/t9n352h52. UCLS Foresights 15
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