David Dale Owen was a prominent American geologist. He conducted the first geological surveys of Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, and Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

.

David Dale was the third son of Robert Owen

Robert Owen

Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...

, a Welsh reformer who moved to the United States and established a social experiment at New Harmony, Indiana

New Harmony, Indiana

New Harmony is a historic town on the Wabash River in Harmony Township, Posey County, Indiana, United States. It lies north of Mount Vernon, the county seat. The population was 916 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Evansville metropolitan area. Many of the old Harmonist buildings still stand...

, where David Dale also lived. It is likely that David Dale became interested in geology because of his father's partnership with geologist William Maclure

William Maclure

William Maclure, American - British social experimenter on new types of community life together with British social reformer Robert Owen, , in Indiana State, U. S. A....

. His first geological work was as an assistant mapping the geology of Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, in 1836. He was appointed the first Geologist for the State of Indiana (1837–39), and worked as the State Geologist of Kentucky in 1854-1857; he was appointed State Geologist of Arkansas in 1857, continuing as the Kentucky geologist without pay. He returned to Indiana as State Geologist in 1859-1860.

David Dale Owen died November 13, 1860, at the age of 53.

While in Arkansas, David Dale Owen drew the first known picture of a natural rock formation in Natural Steps, Arkansas

Natural Steps, Arkansas

Natural Steps is an unincorporated census-designated place in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States, just 18 miles northwest of Little Rock along the southern bank of the Arkansas River, on Arkansas Highway 300. As of the 2010 census, its population is 426. Today, it is a small farming community...

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