Two views of hills near the Great Basin. Full caption reads: "Northern boundary Mountains of Great Basin - Sn. slope near junction of the No. Salt Lake road with California route ['in Great Basin' is crossed out]"; Note in upper left reads: "Great Basin"; Note below upper sketch reads: "Extinct crater, on right of trail"; Note in parentheses reads: "(Raft river between)"; Note under lower sketch reads: "Another, on left of trail". Joseph Goldsborough Bruff is best known as a topographer, journalist, and artist of the gold rush era. Bruff was born in Washington, D.C., on October 2, 1804. He attended West Point from 1820 until his resignation in 1822. From 1827-1836 he worked as a topographical engineer, predominantly at Gosport Naval Yard in Norfolk, Virginia. He returned to Washington, D.C., in 1837 and from 1838-1849 worked for the U.S. Bureau of Topographical Engineers. Bruff then organized the Washington City and California Mining Association, which he accompanied to California. While in California he produced extensive journals and drawings of the mining camp experience. In 1853 Bruff returned to Washington, D.C., where he worked in office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department until his death on April 14, 1889.
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