[George Montague]. American soldier, born in Grafton, MA, on the 9th of October 1842; graduated at West Point (1866), and was assigned to the corps of engineers. Until September 1868 was assistant engineer on the survey of Point Lobos and vicinity, and in the construction of the defenses of Fort Point, San Francisco harbor, California. He was promoted first-lieutenant on March 7, 1867. In 1869 he made a geographical reconnoissance in Nevada, and in 1871, under the title of the Geographical Survey of the Territory of the United States West of the 100th Meridian, he was appointed superintending engineer of a force of surveyors and scientists. Money was annually granted by Congress for the work, which had for its primary object the making of geographic maps, but gathered important material in geology, zoology and ethnology. The work was abolished, and the United States Geological Survey organized in March 1879, after which time Lieutenant Wheeler engaged in the preparation of the material he had gathered. The work has been published in a series of volumes, by the engineer department of the United States Army. He was promoted captain, March 30, 1879, and retired from service in June 1888 owing to ill health.
