Sketch I Showing the Progress of the Survey in Section No. 9 [Galveston Bay]: Bache 1851

• Title: Sketch I Showing the Progress of the Survey in Section No. 9 [Galveston Bay]
• Author: A. D. Bache
• Date: 1851
• Medium: Hand-colored engraving
• Condition: Excellent - small repaired tear in outer left margin
• Inches: 12 3/4 x 8 3/4 [Paper]
• Centimeters: 32.39 x 22.23 [Paper]
• Product ID: 308211

Map of the Gulf Coast showing Galveston Bay, East Bay and West Bay.

Surveyor, scientist, and pioneering oceanographer A. D. Bache (1806-1867) served as the 6th Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey. Born in Philadelphia, he came from a prominent political family, and was the great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin. Under his leadership, the Coast Survey’s operations grew significantly, expanding from nine to seventeen states as it surveyed the Gulf and West Coasts. Bache ran meticulous studies relating to ocean currents, tides, and the earth’s magnetic field, endeavors which provided in-depth knowledge about U.S. coastal geography. Thanks to Bache, the Coast Survey evolved into an immense resource for the U.S. government and one of the foremost scientific institutions in the country leading up to the Civil War.