This book is a report on the United States Geographical Surveys of the West, a pioneering scientific expedition undertaken in the late 19th century to explore and map the American West. It focuses on the astronomy and barometric hypsometry aspects of the survey, which involved measuring the heights and positions of mountains and other geographic features. It is a fascinating account of a landmark scientific project that helped to shape our understanding of the geography of the United States. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.