Abstract

Many mid-nineteenth-century mathematical practitioners in the United States found employment in the US Coast Survey, the US Naval Observatory, and the US Nautical Almanac Office. These governmental institutions often connected mathematical work to political projects like the annexation of territories and the expansion of telegraphs and railroads. They also deployed observers in quest of scientific glory during solar eclipses across North America in 1854, 1860, and 1869. After moderate success during the 1854 annular eclipse, US observers met with sweeping disappointment in the 1860 path of eclipse totality. Determined to have better outcomes in 1869, the US Coast Survey began planning a route to totality in 1867, shortly after the Transfer of Alaska. The ultimate success of their venture depended on indigenous knowledge which has subsequently been supressed in narratives of 19th-century US governmental science. Framed by recent work on American imperialism, this talk will focus on the 1869 total solar eclipse expedition and its interrelatedness with indigenous people and geopolitics.