Foreword: This is the first in a new series of Corps of Engineers Historical Studies which we hope will make available to Corps personnel and general public significant documents in Engineer history. Subsequent numbers in the series will reprint previously published but difficult to obtain reports or hitherto unpublished archival material. In either case, publications in the series will seek to create a better understanding of the significant role of the Corps of Engineers in American history.
The journal of Lieutenant William B. Franklin’s march to South Pass with the 1st Dragoons is a fitting selection for the first publication in this series. Unsung and virtually unknown outside of a small group of historians, Franklin has received only brief mention in books on western exploration. Moreover, his vivid narrative has not been in reconstructing the story of the development of the American West.
With its clear depiction of the terrain and insights into coming clash between whites and Indians on the high plains, Lieutenant Franklin’s journal takes us back over 130 years to a time when Engineer officers served their country as explorers, topographers, and cartographers. In so doing, the narrative highlights a major Engineer contribution to the growth of the Republic.
