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The Smithsonian and the US Navy in the North Pacific in The Pacific Science (1998), vol. 52, no. 4: 301-307 © 1998 by University of Hawai'i Press. All rights reserved "In Behalf of the Science of the Country": The Smithsonian and the U.S. Navy in the North Pacific in the 1850s1 MARC ROTHENBERG 2 ABSTRACT: During the early l850s, the United States launched two major expeditions to the Pacific, as well as a series of surveys of the American West. Although the U.S. Army had developed a strong symbiotic relationship with the civilian scientific community, the U.S. Navy was still attempting to define its role in American science. This paper compares and contrasts the role of science, especially civilian science, in the U.S. Naval Expedition to Japan and the U.S. Naval Expedition to the North Pacific in the context of American military-civilian scientific cooperation during that period. Special attention is paid to the role of the Smithsonian Institution, the leading civilian scientific institution in the United States, in the two naval expeditions. IN THE EARLY l850s, the U.S. Navy launched and scientific reconnaissances in the Ameri­ two major expeditions to the Pacific. These can West known as the Pacific Railroad Sur­ were the U.S. Naval Expedition to Japan, veys. The primary objective of these surveys better known as the Perry Expedition, which was to provide data to allow an informed set sail in November 1852, and the U.S. Naval decision as to the route for the transconti­ Expedition to the North Pacific, also known nental railroad. These surveys were the cul­ as the North Pacific Exploring Expedition mination of a number of pre-Civil War or the Ringgold/Rodgers Expeditions, which expeditions conducted by the army in the departed the United States in June 1853. Al­ American West, including the Pacific coast. though both expeditions had scientific com­ The history of scientific exploration and ponents, the involvement of the Smithsonian surveying by the U.S. Army and the U.S. Institution, the leading American scientific Navy is quite different (Goetzmann 1959, organization at the time, in the expeditions 1966, Kazar 1973, Ponko 1974). Civilian was quite different. The Smithsonian played scientists did not accompany the first major a very peripheral role in the Perry Expedi­ army effort, the Lewis and Clark Expedition tion, and then only after the expedition re­ of 1803-1805, which went from the Missis­ turned. In contrast, the Smithsonian was sippi River to the West Coast and back, central to the North Pacific Exploring Expe­ surveying and exploring the newly acquired dition throughout the expedition's existence. Louisiana Territory, but they were rela­ In this paper I examine and compare these tively easily integrated into later expeditions. contrasting roles in the context of American Working relationships between civilian sci­ military-civilian scientific cooperation during entists and survey commanders, although not that period. perfect, were relatively smooth and produc­ Coincidently in 1853, the U.S. Army began tive. For the most part, the collections gath­ a series of important and successful surveys ered by these expeditions had been small in number and collected over a long period. There had been few disputes. The scientists 1 Support for this paper came from the Research accompanying the expeditions usually de­ Opportunity Fund of the Smithsonian Institution. This scribed the specimens, having worked out the paper forms part of the commemoration of the bicenten­ nial of the birth of Joseph Henry. Manuscript accepted issue of housing beforehand. Alternatively, 15 January 1998. the commanding officer of an expedition 2 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. would send them to a particular scientist 301 302 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 52, October 1998 or scientific institution with whom he had that it would take responsibility for the a personal relationship for description and Wilkes specimens and other national collec­ preservation. tions housed in the Patent Office Building. In contrast, the navy started out with a However, Joseph Henry, the first Secretary major exploring expedition-the U.S. South (i.e., Director) of the Smithsonian, rejected Seas Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842, that assumption. He argued that maintaining better known as the Wilkes Expedition. Its national collections, such as scientific speci­ problems became legendary among American mens returned by the military, was the finan­ scientists. Captain Charles Wilkes, the expedi­ cial responsibility of the government. The tion's commander, was a firm believer in the Smithsonian would be free with its advice, yet-unproven scientific abilities of naval offi­ whether to government scientists, military cers. He reserved the physical sciences for officers, or cabinet members; it would hap­ the military and reluctantly accepted civilian pily help train government scientists and scientists only when he was unable to find military officers conducting scientific collect­ qualified naturalists among the navy's medi­ ing. But at least some out-of-pocket costs cal corps. The relationship between the needs would have to be reimbursed (Reingold and of civilian scientists to collect and the naval Rothenberg 1985). officers to survey had not been well thought This was no obstacle for working with the out. Wilkes always placed the needs of the army. For example, Henry and Jefferson navy first (Stanton 1975, Viola and Margolis Davis, who had been a Regent (i.e., trustee) 1985). of the Smithsonian before becoming Secre­ Despite its problems, the Wilkes Expedi­ tary of War in 1853, had worked out an ar­ tion returned with thousands of specimens rangement for the Railroad Surveys in which from Australia, the West Coast of North the Smithsonian would serve as a temporary America, and the islands of the Pacific. clearinghouse for the collections. The Smith­ However, no provision had been made before sonian provided additional assistance to the the departure of the expedition for the care surveys: "The instruments have been com­ of the specimens, and they ultimately were pared, implements constructed, and practical placed under the curatorship of the National instruction given in the art of observation Institution for the Promotion of Science, a and the means of preserving specimens." local scientific society in Washington, D.C., Secretary Henry congratulated himself on the with considerable political influence, but little role of the Smithsonian in the exploration support among the national scientific com­ and surveying of the American West: "it has munity. The National Institution staff mis­ rendered important aid to physical geog­ handled the collections, damaged or lost raphy and natural history by the facilities specimens, and ignored the need to keep which it has afforded the several exploring specimens and identification labels together parties which have been fitted out during (Kohlsted 1971, Viola and Margolis 1985). the past year" (Smithsonian Institution Adding to the scientific community's un­ 1853:24). happiness, publication of the scientific results The relative success of the army and civil­ of the U.S. Exploring Expedition was under ian scientists to cooperate for the cause of the control of Wilkes, who had his own ideas science can in part be credited to the training about scientific research and publication, and status of army officers in the United ideas that conflicted with those of the scien­ States. During the first two-thirds of the tists. There were two decades of clashes be­ nineteenth century, an American army officer tween the scientists analyzing the specimens could become a member of the scientific and Wilkes over issues of format, use of community. If trained at the U.S. Military Latin, and the need for foreign scientific Academy at West Point, which was founded input (Stanton 1975: 316-377, Hibler 1989). in 1803, such an officer would have had ex­ When the Smithsonian Institution was es­ cellent technical training in mathematics and tablished in 1846, it was assumed by many practical astronomy. Many graduates had no The Smithsonian and the U.S. Navy-RoTHENBERG 303 expectations of a military career. Ulysses Another alternative was duty with the U.S. S. Grant, destined to command the Union Coast Survey. Although a civilian agency, forces during the Civil War, went to the the Coast Survey utilized naval personnel, Military Academy in expectation of gain­ providing them with training in hydrography ing the qualifications for a professorship of and geodesy (Bruce 1988: 172). That these mathematics in a civilian college (Grant alternatives worked for highly motivated in­ 1885: 40). Army officers could and did pursue dividuals is indicated by the parity between research, publish in scientific journals, and active army officers and active naval officers get elected to learned societies such as the among the 50 founders of the National American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Academy of Sciences. There were four of Most of these officers were eventually as­ each (in addition to two former army officers signed by the army to its elite Corps of and three civilian employees of the navy). Topographical Engineers (Anonymous 1868, However, it required considerably more ini­ Goetzman 1959). tiative for a naval officer to become actively Adding to the status of army officers, involved in science. One consequence ofthese alumni of the Military Academy held impor­ circumstances was that some of the naval tant positions in the scientific community and officers most committed to raising the level civilian life. For example, Alexander Dallas of scientific expertise in their service felt the Bache, class of 1825, was director of the U.S. need to prove to the civilian community that Coast Survey from 1843 until his death in they could do science without civilian assis­ 1867 and became the first president of the tance (Dupree 1986: 97). Others, however, National Academy of Sciences in 1863. One felt comfortable with a partnership in which of Bache's Military Academy classmates the navy was subordinate to civilian scien­ was Jefferson Davis.
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