Natural Resources
The natural resources collections offer centuries of evidence about how Americans have used the bounty of the American continent and coastal waters. Artifacts related to flood control, dam construction, and irrigation illustrate the nation's attempts to manage the natural world. Oil-drilling, iron-mining, and steel-making artifacts show the connection between natural resources and industrial strength.
Forestry is represented by saws, axes, a smokejumper's suit, and many other objects. Hooks, nets, and other gear from New England fisheries of the late 1800s are among the fishing artifacts, as well as more recent acquisitions from the Pacific Northwest and Chesapeake Bay. Whaling artifacts include harpoons, lances, scrimshaw etchings in whalebone, and several paintings of a whaler's work at sea. The modern environmental movement has contributed buttons and other protest artifacts on issues from scenic rivers to biodiversity.
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Chromolithograph of "Colorado Desert and Signal Mountain"
- Description
- This chromolithograph of “Colorado Desert and Signal Mountain” was originally drawn by Charles Koppel and printed as Plate XI in the first report of volume V of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Explorations In California for Railroad Routes, to Connect with the Routes near the 35th and 32nd Parallels of North Latitude.” The volume was printed in 1856 by Beverley Tucker in Washington, D.C.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1856
- original artist
- Koppel, Charles
- publisher
- U.S. War Department
- author
- Williamson, Robert Stockton
- printer
- Tucker, Beverley
- graphic artist
- unknown
- publisher
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Topographic Command
- ID Number
- GA.10729.26
- accession number
- 62261
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Engraving of lizard species"Euphryne obesus"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Euphryne obesus [Baird]”, now "Sauromalus ater" or Northern chuckwalla, from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was printed as Plate 27 in the “Reptiles” section of the second part of volume II of the Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, written by S.F. Baird (1823–1887). The volume was printed in 1859 by Cornelius Wendell of Washington, D.C.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1859
- author
- Baird, Spencer Fullerton
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Wendell, Cornelius
- author
- Emory, William H.
- publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- U.S. Army
- ID Number
- 2009.0115.068
- catalog number
- 2009.0115.068
- accession number
- 2009.0115
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Lithograph of "South End of S. Inez Mountains & S. Buenaventura Valley"
- Description
- This lithograph of “South End of S. Inez Mountains & S. Buenaventura Valley” was originally drawn by A.H. Campbell. It was printed in the first report of volume VII of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Report of Explorations for Railroad Routes San Francisco Bay to Los Angeles, West of the Coast Range, and from the Pimas Villages on the Gila to the Rio Grande, near the 32nd Parallel of North Latitude, Lieutenant John G. Parke, Corps of Topographical Engineers, Assisted by Albert H. Campbell, Civil Engineer.” The volume was printed in 1857 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1857
- graphic artist
- A. Hoen & Co.
- original artist
- Campbell, A. H.
- publisher
- U.S. War Department
- author
- Parke, J. G.
- publisher
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Topographic Command
- graphic artist
- A. Hoen & Co.
- ID Number
- GA.16332.048
- catalog number
- 16332.048
- accession number
- 1930.110179
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraving of lizard species "Cnemidophorus Presignis"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Cnemidophorus presignis [sic]," now Ameiva ameiva (Giant ameiva or Amazon racerunner), from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. This is an unfinished proof signed by Charles Girard (1822–1895), whose final proof was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXVIII in his “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.25
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.25
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Chromolithograph of "Metamorphic Rocks-Borders of the Desert"
- Description
- This chromolithograph of “Metamorphic Rocks — Borders of the Desert” was originally drawn by William P. Blake (1826–1910), the mineralogist and geologist of the expedition. It was printed as "Geology Plate XIII" in the geological report of volume V of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Routes in California, to Connect with the Routes near the Thirty–Fifth and Thirty–Second Parallels, Explored by Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, Corps of Topographical Engineers, in 1853” by William P. Blake. The volume was printed in 1857 by Beverley Tucker in Washington, D.C.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1856
- publisher
- U.S. War Department
- printer
- Tucker, Beverley
- graphic artist
- unknown
- original artist
- Koppel, Charles
- author
- Blake, William Phipps
- Williamson, Robert Stockton
- publisher
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Topographic Command
- original artist
- Koppel, Charles
- ID Number
- GA.10729.37
- accession number
- 62261
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Engraving of snake species "Elaps nigrocinctus"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Elaps nigrocinctus [Grd]”, now "Micrurus nigrocinctus nigrocinctus" or Central American coral snake, from an original sketch John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXV in the “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Charles Girard (1822–1895).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- book printer, publisher
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Girard, Charles
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.08
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.08
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Lithograph of bird species "Buteo calurus"
- Description
- This lithograph of “Buteo calurus [Cassin]," now "Buteo jamaicensis calurus" or Red–tailed hawk, was drawn by an unknown artist and printed as Plate XIV in the zoological report of volume X of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Report of Lieut. E. G. Beckwith, Third Artillery, upon Explorations for a Railroad Route, near the 38th and 39th Parallels of North Latitude, by Captain J. W. Gunnison, Corps of Topographical Engineers, and near the Forty–First Parallel of North Latitude, by Lieut. E. G. Beckwith, Third Artillery.” Though the zoological report was prepared by 1854, the volume was not printed until 1859 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington D.C.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date on report
- 1854
- date printed in book
- 1859
- original artist
- Cassin, John
- publisher
- U.S. War Department
- author
- Beckwith, Edward Griffin
- publisher
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Topographic Command
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- ID Number
- GA.16332.017
- accession number
- 1930.110179
- catalog number
- 16332.017
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Engraving of lizard species "Crotaphylus wislizenii"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Crotaphylus wislizenii [sic] [B & G],” now "Gambelia wislizenii" or Longnose leopard lizard, from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was printed as Plate 31 in the “Reptiles” section of the second part of volume II of the Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, written by S.F. Baird (1823–1887). The volume was printed in 1859 by Cornelius Wendell of Washington, D.C.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1859
- author
- Baird, Spencer Fullerton
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Wendell, Cornelius
- author
- Emory, William H.
- publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- ID Number
- 2009.0115.060
- catalog number
- 2009.0115.060
- accession number
- 2009.0115
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Engraving of fish species "Nematoenys inermis"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Nematogenys inermis [Grd]” from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXII in the “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Charles Girard (1822–1895).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Girard, Charles
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.17
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.17
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Engraving of snake species "Dryophis vittatus"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Dryophis vittatus [Grd],” now "Oxybelis aeneus" (Brown vine snake or Mexican vine snake), from John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia's original sketch. The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXVI in the “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Charles Girard (1822–1895).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.30
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.30
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Environmental Button
- Description
- Some environmental campaigns sought to change the behavior of government agencies. As the world’s largest public engineering, design, and construction agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers attracted broad-based criticism in the 1960s and thereafter for its aggressive program of dams and channel building. River advocates in particular were urged to “Keep Busy Fighting the Corps.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Rivercity Art
- ID Number
- 2003.0014.0636
- accession number
- 2003.0014
- catalog number
- 2003.0014.0636
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Campaign speeches are useful, at that
- Description (Brief)
- This pen-and-ink comic art drawing by Rube Goldberg from 1924 features the concept of using “windy” political speeches as free energy.
- Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) was an engineer before he was a comic artist. After receiving an engineering degree, he started his career designing sewers for the City of San Francisco, but then followed his other interest and took a job as a sports cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle. After moving to New York in 1907 Goldberg worked for several newspapers, producing a number of short-lived strips and panels—many of which were inspired by his engineering background, including his renowned invention cartoons. In the late 1930s and 1940s he switched his focus to editorial and political cartoons and in 1945 founded the National Cartoonists Society. The Reuben, comic art’s most prestigious award, is named after him.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1924-10-31
- original artist
- Goldberg, Rube
- ID Number
- GA.23492
- catalog number
- 23492
- accession number
- 299186
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Engraving of lizard species "Proctotretus Tenius, Proctoretus Femoratus, and Proctotretus Stantoni"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Cnemidophorus presignis [sic],” now Ameiva ameiva (Giant ameiva or Amazon racerunner), from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. This is an unfinished proof signed by Charles Girard (1822–1895), whose final version was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXXVIII in his “Reptiles, fishes, crustacea” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.29
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.29
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Engraving of lizard species "Phrynosoma regale, Doliosaurus m'callii"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Phrynosoma regale [Girard] and Doliosaurus m’callii [Girard]”—now "Phrynosoma solare" (Regal horned lizard) and "Phrynosoma mcallii" (Flat–tail horned lizard); from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was printed as Plate 28 in the “Reptiles” section of the second part of volume II of the Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, written by S.F. Baird (1823–1887). The volume was printed in 1859 by Cornelius Wendell of Washington, D.C.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1859
- author
- Baird, Spencer Fullerton
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Wendell, Cornelius
- author
- Emory, William H.
- publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- U.S. Army
- ID Number
- 2009.0115.062
- catalog number
- 2009.0115.062
- accession number
- 2009.0115
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Lithograph of bird species "Chrysomitris Marginalis"
- Description
- Thomas Sinclair (c.1805–1881) of Philadelphia printed this lithograph of “Chrysomitris Marginalis [Bonaparte] male and female," now "Carduelis barbata" or Black-chinned siskin, from an original sketch by William Dreser (c.1820–after 1860) of Philadelphia (1847–1860) and New York (1860). The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XVII in the “Birds” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by John Cassin (1813–1869).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1855
- graphic artist
- Sinclair, Thomas
- Dreser, William
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Cassin, John
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.03
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Lithograph of bird species "Centurus uropygialis"
- Description
- This lithograph of “Centurus uropygialis [Baird]”, now "Melanerpes uropygialis" or the Gila woodpecker, was drawn by an unknown artist. It was printed as Plate XXXVI in the zoological report of volume X of Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, “Report of Exploration for a Railway Route (near the thirty–fifth Parallel of North Latitude) from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, by Lieutenant A. W. Whipple, Corps of Topographical Engineers; assisted by Lieutenant J.C. Ives, Corps of Topographical Engineers.” Though the zoological report was ready in 1853–1854, the volume was not printed until 1859 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1859
- 1859
- author
- Whipple, Amiel Weeks
- Ives, Joseph Christmas
- original artist
- Kennerley, Caleb Burwell Rowan
- publisher
- U.S. War Department
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Topographic Command
- original artist
- Mollhausen, H. B.
- ID Number
- GA.16332.089
- catalog number
- 16332.089
- accession number
- 1930.110179
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Lithograph of bird species "Ericornis Melanura and Scytalopus Fuscus"
- Description
- Thomas Sinclair (c.1805–1881) of Philadelphia printed this chromolithograph of “Ericornis melanura [Gray] adult and Scytalopus fuscus [Gould],” now "Chilia melanura" (Crag chilia), and "Scytalopus fuscus" (Dusky tapaculo), from an original sketch by William Dreser (c. 1820–after 1860) of Philadelphia (1847–1860) and New York (1860). The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXI in the “Birds” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by John Cassin (1813–1869).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- graphic artist
- Sinclair, Thomas
- original artist
- Dreser, William
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Cassin, John
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.05
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Model of Bucyrus-Erie Stripping Shovel
- Description
- In 1960, the Bucyrus-Erie Company of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, presented this 14-inch-high, scale model of what was to become the world's largest stripping shovel to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Later that year, the President transferred this gift to the Smithsonian Institution. The Bucyrus-Erie Company had custom-designed this monster machine for the Peabody Coal Company. Bucyrus-Erie engineers anticipated that they would need two years to manufacture the behemoth, and an additional six months to assemble it at the site of the open-pit mine. (They planned to ship the machine's parts in over 250 railcars.) When finished, the shovel would weigh 7,000 tons, soar to the roofline of a 20-story building (some 220 feet high), and be able to extend its enormous 115-cubic-yard dipper over 460 feet, or about the length of an average city block. (The dipper's capacity would equal that of about six stand-sized dump trucks.) Fifty electric motors-ranging from 1/4 to 3,000 horsepower-would power the shovel, which was designed to be controlled by a single operator, perched in a cab five stories high. Publicists for Bucyrus-Erie called this the "largest self-powered mobile land vehicle ever built."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1960
- recipient
- Eisenhower, Dwight D.
- maker
- Bucyrus-Erie Company
- ID Number
- MC.317688
- catalog number
- 317688
- accession number
- 231557
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Chromolithograph of bird species "Euphonia Rufiventris adult male and Chlorophonia Occipitalis adulte male"
- Description
- Thomas Sinclair (c.1805–1881) of Philadelphia printed this chromolithograph of “Euphonia rufiventis [Vieill] adult male and Chlorophonia occipitalis [Du Bus] adult male,” now "Euphonia rufiventris" (Rufous-bellied euphonia) and "Chlorophonia occipitalis" (Blue-crowned chlorophonia), from an original sketch by William Dreser (c.1820–after 1860) of Philadelphia (1847–1860) and New York (1860). This is an unfinished proof, whose final version was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XXI in the “Birds” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by John Cassin (1813–1869).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- graphic artist
- Sinclair, Thomas
- original artist
- Dreser, William
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Cassin, John
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.06
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.06
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraving of fossilized "Mastodon Andium"
- Description
- William Dougal (1822–1895) of Washington, D.C. engraved this print of “Mastodon andium,” from an original sketch by John H. Richard (c.1807–1881) of Philadelphia. The illustration was published in 1855 by A.O.P. Nicholson in Washington, D.C. as Plate XIII in the “Paleontology: fossil mammals” section of volume II of The United States Naval Astronomical Survey to the Southern Hemisphere, written by Jeffries Wyman (1814–1874).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date of book publication
- 1855
- original artist
- Richard, John H.
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- printer
- Nicholson, A. O. P.
- publisher
- United States Navy
- author
- Gilliss, James Melville
- ID Number
- 2008.0175.24
- accession number
- 2008.0175
- catalog number
- 2008.0175.24
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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