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Isaac W. Smith (surveyor)
Encyclopedia
Isaac Williams Smith was an American
soldier, surveyor and engineer.
, Spotsylvania County
, Virginia
, the son of Episcopalian preacher Reverend George A. Smith and his wife, Ophelia Williams Smith.
at Lexington
, graduating in 1846. One of his professors was Thomas Stonewall Jackson
.
After graduation Smith served as assistant surveyor on many projects, including under Captain Emory on the survey of the northeastern boundary between the United States
and Canada
.
in the Mexican-American War, and fought at the siege of Veracruz
.
nations of Native Americans
under lieutenants Sitgreaves and Woodruff. He was also assistant astronomer and first assistant surveyor of the parallel between the states of Iowa
and Minnesota
, and resident surveyor and engineer for the construction of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad
, Virginia.
In 1854 Smith was assistant engineer on the Pacific Railroad surveys and explorations along the southern route of a proposed transcontinental railway route under Army Corps of Engineers
lieutenants Williamson and Parke.
Smith moved to Washington Territory
in 1855 where he supervised the building of various lighthouses along the Pacific coast and Strait of Juan de Fuca
. This work was accomplished, in his own words, "with considerably difficulty and peril, journeys to and from the works being made either in small rowboats or Indian canoes through water that were of a very treacherous character and often with only Indians for crew".
In 1858, Smith was appointed Lighthouse Agent for Washington Territory. In 1859 he surveyed the Puget Sound
Guide Meridian from the area just north of Seattle
to within feet of the international boundary with British Columbia
. Smith was appointed chief registrar of the General Land Office
in Seattle in 1860 and was an aide-de-camp
to Governor Isaac Stevens
.
, when the Union Army
invaded his home state, Smith had to flee north to British Columbia because of his well-known Southern
sympathies. He returned to Virginia
in 1862 by way of steamer to Baltimore, Maryland, and then on to Richmond
. Smith enlisted in the Confederate Army and was appointed Captain in the Engineer Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia
in charge of the Confederate pontoon service. He was instrumental in the defense of Petersburg
and Richmond during the Siege of Petersburg
, and was present at the surrender of Confederate forces at Appomattox Court House
. Smith returned home with "an old gray uniform, much tattered and worn, a good horse and a large amount of experience."
where he served as district engineer on the Imperial Mexican Railroad from Veracruz
to Mexico City
. He returned to the Pacific Coast in 1869 and worked as surveyor and engineer on various railroad surveys in California
, Oregon
and the Northern Pacific Railroad in Washington.
He built the canals and locks
around Willamette Falls
in Oregon City
in 1871–72.
In December 1873, Smith platted gas and water lines for the city of Tacoma, Washington
.
Smith then worked in British Columbia in the employ of the Dominion Government where he conducted a survey of the Fraser River
from Soda Creek to Lytton
to examine the feasibility of steamship travel.
From 1876 to 1878 he served on the Board of Railroad Commissioners for the State of California, and was appointed chief engineer of the Sacramento River Drainage Commission.
In 1880 he served as chief engineer of the Board of State Harbor Commissioners of California.
Smith then returned to Washington in the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad and was put in charge of surveys through the Cascade Range
to find the most practical route across to Tacoma. The route adopted was through "Stampede Pass
", one of the lines Smith surveyed and mapped.
From 1885 to 1897 Smith was Chief Engineer for the City of Portland, Oregon
, Water Works
. In January, 1886, at the request of the Portland Water Committee, Isaac Smith led a survey to discover a new water source for Portland. He designed and supervised the building of the 24 miles (38.6 km) pipeline from the newly surveyed Bull Run Reservoir to Portland, from which the city still gets its drinking water. For several months the survey party fought through country described by another member of the survey team as "rugged wilderness, unsurveyed and unknown. The only trails are those of elk, deer, etc. There is not a trace of civilization in any direction."
"The Colonel", as he was called, was extremely dedicated to his work. He took to his bed on Christmas Day 1896 with pneumonia. Over the next three days he suffered bouts of chills and fever. His last words before death were, "How is the wingdam in the Sandy River getting along? I hope the cost of it will not exceed the estimate of $600. I would not like to have the cost exceed the estimate." Isaac Williams Smith never married and died of pneumonia in Portland on January 1, 1897.
His obituary in The Oregonian
called this devotion to duty his "sterling and unapproachable integrity…his great but unostentatious love for all created things." It went on to state that Isaac Smith was "one of nature's noblemen, a man of lofty nature, who could not stoop to give place in his large and generous heart to anything that partook of the small and petty in act or sentiment. His life was colored strongly by his sense of duty, his sterling and unapproachable integrity…"
Smith is buried in a very plain grave in section three of River View Cemetery
, in the Teal family plot.
is named in honor of Col. Isaac W. Smith.
On April 9, 2010, on the Anniversary of the Surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee to Gen. Ulysses Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Michael Snyder proposed to Jenny Shipman at the Grave of Col. Smith. Kneeling at the footstone, Michael offered to surrender his life to Jenny. Unable to make it to Virginia in time to propose to Jenny on this date at the Wilmer McLean house, Col. Smith's grave site was chosen to bear witness, as Col. Smith had personally been at Appomattox Courthouse and surrendered with Gen. Lee on April 9, 1865.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soldier, surveyor and engineer.
Early life
Smith was born in 1826 in FredericksburgFredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
, Spotsylvania County
Spotsylvania County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 90,395 people, 31,308 households, and 24,639 families residing in the county. The population density was 226 people per square mile . There were 33,329 housing units at an average density of 83 per square mile...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, the son of Episcopalian preacher Reverend George A. Smith and his wife, Ophelia Williams Smith.
Education
Isaac Smith attended the Fairfax Institute at Clairens and the Virginia Military InstituteVirginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...
at Lexington
Lexington, Virginia
Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 7,042 in 2010. Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777.It is home to...
, graduating in 1846. One of his professors was Thomas Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
.
After graduation Smith served as assistant surveyor on many projects, including under Captain Emory on the survey of the northeastern boundary between the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
United States Army
In 1847, Smith was appointed Second Lieutenant in Company K, U.S. regiment of VoltigeursVoltigeurs
The Voltigeurs were French military skirmish units created in 1804 by Emperor Napoleon I.-Etymology:Voltigeurs hold their name from their originally conceived role of cavalry-transported skirmishers: the voltigeurs were intended to jump onto the croup of cavalry horses in order to advance more...
in the Mexican-American War, and fought at the siege of Veracruz
Siege of Veracruz
The Battle of Veracruz was a 20-day siege of the key Mexican beachhead seaport of Veracruz, during the Mexican-American War. Lasting from 9-29 March 1847, it began with the first large-scale amphibious assault conducted by United States military forces, and ended with the surrender and occupation...
.
Surveyor
After his discharge from the Army, Smith returned to surveying and became assistant surveyor and astronomer on the survey of the parallel between the Creek and CherokeeCherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
nations of Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
under lieutenants Sitgreaves and Woodruff. He was also assistant astronomer and first assistant surveyor of the parallel between the states of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
and Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, and resident surveyor and engineer for the construction of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad
Orange and Alexandria Railroad
The Orange and Alexandria Railroad was an intrastate railroad in Virginia, United States. It extended from Alexandria to Gordonsville, with another section from Charlottesville to Lynchburg...
, Virginia.
In 1854 Smith was assistant engineer on the Pacific Railroad surveys and explorations along the southern route of a proposed transcontinental railway route under Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
lieutenants Williamson and Parke.
Smith moved to Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
in 1855 where he supervised the building of various lighthouses along the Pacific coast and Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
. This work was accomplished, in his own words, "with considerably difficulty and peril, journeys to and from the works being made either in small rowboats or Indian canoes through water that were of a very treacherous character and often with only Indians for crew".
In 1858, Smith was appointed Lighthouse Agent for Washington Territory. In 1859 he surveyed the Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
Guide Meridian from the area just north of Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
to within feet of the international boundary with British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Smith was appointed chief registrar of the General Land Office
General Land Office
The General Land Office was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department of the Treasury...
in Seattle in 1860 and was an aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Governor Isaac Stevens
Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of Washington Territory, a United States Congressman, and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly...
.
Confederate Army
During the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, when the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
invaded his home state, Smith had to flee north to British Columbia because of his well-known Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
sympathies. He returned to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in 1862 by way of steamer to Baltimore, Maryland, and then on to Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. Smith enlisted in the Confederate Army and was appointed Captain in the Engineer Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
in charge of the Confederate pontoon service. He was instrumental in the defense of Petersburg
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
and Richmond during the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
, and was present at the surrender of Confederate forces at Appomattox Court House
Appomattox Court House
The Appomattox Courthouse is the current courthouse in Appomattox, Virginia built in 1892. It is located in the middle of the state about three miles northwest of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, once known as Clover Hill - home of the original Old Appomattox Court House...
. Smith returned home with "an old gray uniform, much tattered and worn, a good horse and a large amount of experience."
Post-War
After the war, Smith went to MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
where he served as district engineer on the Imperial Mexican Railroad from Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
to Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. He returned to the Pacific Coast in 1869 and worked as surveyor and engineer on various railroad surveys in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and the Northern Pacific Railroad in Washington.
He built the canals and locks
Willamette Falls Locks
The Willamette Falls Locks are a lock system on the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 1873 and currently closed, they allow boat traffic on the Willamette to navigate beyond Willamette Falls...
around Willamette Falls
Willamette Falls
The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, in the United States. It is the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest and the eighteenth largest in the world by water volume. Horseshoe in shape, it is wide and high with a flow...
in Oregon City
Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
in 1871–72.
In December 1873, Smith platted gas and water lines for the city of Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
.
Smith then worked in British Columbia in the employ of the Dominion Government where he conducted a survey of the Fraser River
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
from Soda Creek to Lytton
Lytton, British Columbia
Lytton in British Columbia, Canada, sits at the confluence of the Thompson River and Fraser River on the east side of the Fraser. The location has been inhabited by the Nlaka'pamux people for over 10,000 years, and is one of the earliest locations settled by non-natives in the Southern Interior of...
to examine the feasibility of steamship travel.
From 1876 to 1878 he served on the Board of Railroad Commissioners for the State of California, and was appointed chief engineer of the Sacramento River Drainage Commission.
In 1880 he served as chief engineer of the Board of State Harbor Commissioners of California.
Smith then returned to Washington in the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad and was put in charge of surveys through the Cascade Range
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...
to find the most practical route across to Tacoma. The route adopted was through "Stampede Pass
Stampede Pass
Stampede Pass is a mountain pass through the Cascade Range just south of Snoqualmie Pass in Washington.-Discovery of the Pass:The pass was discovered by Virgil Bogue, a civil engineer working for the Northern Pacific Railway...
", one of the lines Smith surveyed and mapped.
"Father" of Portland Oregon's water system
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Water Works
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
. In January, 1886, at the request of the Portland Water Committee, Isaac Smith led a survey to discover a new water source for Portland. He designed and supervised the building of the 24 miles (38.6 km) pipeline from the newly surveyed Bull Run Reservoir to Portland, from which the city still gets its drinking water. For several months the survey party fought through country described by another member of the survey team as "rugged wilderness, unsurveyed and unknown. The only trails are those of elk, deer, etc. There is not a trace of civilization in any direction."
"The Colonel", as he was called, was extremely dedicated to his work. He took to his bed on Christmas Day 1896 with pneumonia. Over the next three days he suffered bouts of chills and fever. His last words before death were, "How is the wingdam in the Sandy River getting along? I hope the cost of it will not exceed the estimate of $600. I would not like to have the cost exceed the estimate." Isaac Williams Smith never married and died of pneumonia in Portland on January 1, 1897.
His obituary in The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
called this devotion to duty his "sterling and unapproachable integrity…his great but unostentatious love for all created things." It went on to state that Isaac Smith was "one of nature's noblemen, a man of lofty nature, who could not stoop to give place in his large and generous heart to anything that partook of the small and petty in act or sentiment. His life was colored strongly by his sense of duty, his sterling and unapproachable integrity…"
Smith is buried in a very plain grave in section three of River View Cemetery
River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon)
River View Cemetery in the southwest section of Portland, Oregon, United States, is a non-profit cemetery founded in 1882. It is the final resting place of many prominent and notable citizens of Oregon, including many governors and United States Senators...
, in the Teal family plot.
Honors
The Portland, Oregon Camp of the Sons of Confederate VeteransSons of Confederate Veterans
Sons of Confederate Veterans is an American national heritage organization with members in all fifty states and in almost a dozen countries in Europe, Australia and South America...
is named in honor of Col. Isaac W. Smith.
On April 9, 2010, on the Anniversary of the Surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee to Gen. Ulysses Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Michael Snyder proposed to Jenny Shipman at the Grave of Col. Smith. Kneeling at the footstone, Michael offered to surrender his life to Jenny. Unable to make it to Virginia in time to propose to Jenny on this date at the Wilmer McLean house, Col. Smith's grave site was chosen to bear witness, as Col. Smith had personally been at Appomattox Courthouse and surrendered with Gen. Lee on April 9, 1865.