Meigs, Josiah & Austin, Moses & Pope, Nathaniel et.al.; Lead Mines and Salines. Communicated to the House of Representatives, January 21, 1817. 14th Congress, 2nd Session, House Document 248, 1817. Small folio, pp. 269-274, 3 large folded maps titled: “Sketch of the Lead Mine District in Washington County Missouri Territory”. & “Boundaries of the Reservation for Wabash Saline”. & “Map of the Saline Lick”. 



The work is complete and in a modern archival folder. The binding is tight and clean and the text and maps are very clean. In very good condition.
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Josiah Meigs (August 21, 1757-September 4, 1822) was an American academic, journalist and government official.
After graduating from Yale University in 1778 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) degree, Meigs studied law and from was 1781 to 1784 a Yale tutor in mathematics, natural philosophy and astronomy. He also published the first American Medical Journal in 1788. In 1794 accepted the chair of mathematics and natural philosophy at Yale. He taught there until 1801 when he was chosen as the president of the University of Georgia (or Franklin College as it was originally called named). in Athens. At Georgia, Meigs implemented the university's first physics curriculum in 1801. A religious denomination which was supported by other conservative elements throughout Georgia desired that education in the newly founded Franklin College have a definitely religious basis. Meigs had neither a religious preference or the pretensions of one. In the face of this increased opposition, criticism of the discipline at the school and in reaction to his political pronouncements, Meigs was forced to resign his position in 1810. Today he is still remembered at the University of Georgia with the university's highest teaching honor bearing his name and Meigs Hall is named in his honor. 
In November, 1812, President Madison appointed Meigs as the first Surveyor General of the United States and two years later he was appointed the first Commissioner of the U. S. Land Office. It was his job to supervise and report on the progress of the surveys of the public domain which contained huge areas of wilderness and to increase the lands being surveyed and insure the surveys were accurate. During his tenure at the U.S. Land Office, he instituted the nation's first system of daily meteorological observations and astronomical observations at the land offices throughout the country and also pushed for what became known as a system of rectangular survey.
In 1816 he was requested by the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct a survey and obtain as much information as possible on the lead mines and salines belonging to the United States. His report was to include the known information on the present situation of the lead mines, their extent, production, ore characteristics and value, proximity to towns and transport routes, grants and status of leases. The same information was to apply to known salt works. Letters were sent to known mines and the information received made up the report along with the three maps. The report covers the Territories of Missouri and Illinois, parts of Ohio and Indiana and Louisiana and the Mississippi Territory. Meigs places the greatest emphasis and praise on what he considered the vast lead deposits lying west of the Mississippi River. His report was to lead to the founding of the lead mining districts in the mid-west.