Jim Greer grew up in Wyoming. His father was a land surveyor for many decades as well as a U.S.G.S. cartographer and professional geologist. Jim spent every summer from age nine through college out in the wilds of rural Wyoming performing surveys, mining claims, water rights and power line easements with his father “carrying the dumb end of the chain,” as he fondly recounts. Jim is also a history buff, and in 2021, when he moved to Ogden, Utah, with his family, he decided to start learning about the history of the area. “Ogden has a very interesting and colorful history,” he mused. The city was the first permanent settlement in Utah — established in the 1840s by the trapper Miles Goodyear and originally named Fort Buenaventura. The first transcontinental railroad was joined in 1869, and Ogden Station became a main railroad junction because of its location along major east-west and north-south routes. In his research, Jim came across a link to dozens of historical photos of the Ogden area. “It was so interesting to learn more about the history, and then all of a sudden, I came to one of these historic photos of the 1871 Hayden survey party camp.” Jim quickly recognized, based on the proximity to Ogden Peak, the location of the first camp of Ferdinand Hayden's survey in the photo. “It caught my attention immediately as the son of a surveyor. I knew about the great surveys of the American West during the 1860s and 70s, but I didn't know that one of the premier ones, the Hayden survey started right here in Ogden. I looked at that photo, and I thought, well, that's pretty close to my house,” Jim said. Commemorating HAYDEN’S GREAT SURVEY of the American West UCLS Foresights 20
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