Bannister, correspondence

• MS 902/3/1/1-3;D Letters (3) to Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1865-1866 [Regarding the expedition] 7 leaves, holograph (Xerox)

The Western Union Telegraph Expedition, 1865-1867 (Robert Kennicott) aimed survey a route for, and to construct, a telegraph line between the United States and Europe by way of British and Russian America, Bering Strait, and Siberia. The expedition was organized on a quasi-military basis under the general command of Charles Bulkley (who served as engineer-in-chief), and divided into four divisions. In 1867, news that North Atlantic Telegraph Company had successfully laid a cable from Newfoundland to Ireland the previous year caused the company to abandon its enterprise. Nevertheless, the scientific and geographical results of the expedition, especially in Alaska, were of great value.

Chronological

These are copies

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to the Western Union Telegraph Expedition, 1865-1867 and its personnel, See SPRI collections GB 15 Robert Kennicott, GB 15 Charles Bulkley, GB 15 William Dall, GB 15 Henry Elliott, GB 15 Joseph Rothrock.

Original letters are to be found in the National History Library, Smithsonian Institute, Washington USA (1982)