Biography
Gunnison was born in Goshen, New Hampshire in 1812 and attended Hopkinton Academy. He graduated from West Point in 1837, second in his class of fifty cadets. His military career began in Florida, where he spent a year in the campaign against the Seminoles. Due to his poor health he was reassigned to the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Initially he explored unknown areas of Florida, searching for provision routes. However, his health soon forced him out of Florida entirely.
From 1841-1849 Gunnison explored the area around the Great Lakes. He surveyed the border between Wisconsin and Michigan, the Western coast of Lake Michigan, and the coast of Lake Erie. On May 9, 1846 he was promoted to First Lieutenant.
In the Spring of 1849 Gunnison was assigned as second in command of the Howard Stansbury Expedition to explore and survey the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. That winter was particularly heavy and the expedition was unable to leave the valley. Gunnison took the opportunity to befriend some Mormons and study The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When he finally returned to Washington, DC, he wrote a book titled The Mormons or Latter-Day Saints, in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake: A History of Their Rise and Progress, Peculiar Doctrines, Present Condition.
Gunnison returned to the Great Lakes from 1852–1853, mapping the Green Bay area, and was promoted to Captain on March 3, 1853.
Read more about this topic: John Williams Gunnison
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