Inventory of the Minnesota Geological and Natural History Survey papers

The Minnesota Geological and Natural History Survey was established by an act of the Minnesota state legislature on May 1, 1872.The act called for “a thorough geological and natural history survey of the state” with the aim to record a complete account of the mineral kingdom, vegetable productions, and animal kingdom present within Minnesota. Authority to administer the survey was granted to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota. In June 1872, Newton Horace Winchell, assistant on the geological surveys of Michigan and Ohio, was appointed as State Geologist and director of the Survey..

Winchell began a “general reconnaissance” of the geological formations of Minnesota in September of 1872 and continued his examinations as State Geologist, county by county, through 1898. His work culminated in twenty-four annual reports submitted to the Board of Regents, ten bulletins, and the six-volume work, “The Geology of Minnesota: Final Report of the Geological and Natural History Survey,” which includes 4,130 pages, 261 plates, 420 figures, and an atlas complete with maps and summary reports for each county in the state. The natural history portion of the survey was removed from Winchell’s responsibility with the appointment of Henry F. Nachtrieb as State Zoologist in 1888 and Conway MacMillan as State Botanist in 1890.

Upon the publication of the Final Report in 1900, Winchell’s duties as State Geologist and director of the survey were deemed fulfilled by the Board of Regents, and he was relieved of his position. The geological portion of the survey also concluded at that time. The zoological and botanical veins of the survey, formally established in 1888 and 1889, continued under the direction of the State Zoologist, Henry Francis Nachtrieb, and State Botanist, Conway MacMillan, respectively.