Another Day in the Life of an Engineer
During all these years of work on the location and construction of the Kansas Pacific Railway, the surveying parties were continually harassed by hostile Indians, and were frequently obliged to fight for their lives. His army life and acquaintance with warfare was admirable preparation for this experience, and on one memorable occasion, June 19, 1869, Mr. Schuyler, while leading an advance of a preliminary survey near Sheridan, Kan., and while engaged in picking out a line for the party a few miles in the rear, was surprised and surrounded by a band of 100 or more hostile Cheyennes, but by coolness and presence of mind, he cut his way through the lines and escaped without a scratch, killing four Indians in the engagement. Five bullets were lodged in his horse; his field glasses and one spur were cut off by bullets, and his clothes were riddled; even the handle of his carbine were pierced and nearly torn from his grasp by a rifle ball. His plucky defense of himself saved the lives of the rest of the party, and they all succeeded in retreating to the military post fifteen miles distant, fighting their way through the swarming hordes of savages, whose well laid plans for picking off the party one at a time was baffled by the coolness of their intrepid leader. The only member of the party wounded in this thrilling adventure was the writer.
Excerpt from the memoir of Howard Schuyler (1844 - 1883) written by James D. Schuyler for the ASCE Transactions, Vol. XXXVI, December 1896 - (Partial transcription of memoir without changes).
Interesting Project & Historical Links
CSCE Past Presidents
1912 - 28th Annual Meeting and Proceedings
Cover and President's Address
The Wepawaug River Diversion Works
New Haven Pavements
Submerged Gas Mains at New Haven
Raising Putnam Lake Dam
The Saybrook Bridge over the Connecticut River
The Shore Line Electric Railway
Recent Developments in Sewage Disposal
Cedar Hill Engine House Facilities
Addenda, Memoria, Proceedings
Charter Members, Members
Advertisers
1928 - 44th Annual Meeting and Proceedings
Advertisers (1st of 3 files)
Advertisers (2nd of 3 files)
Advertisers (3rd of 3 files)
Cover-Contents-Committees
Engineering & Aviation
Holland Tunnel (1st of 3 files)
Holland Tunnel (2nd of 3 files)
Holland Tunnel (3rd of 3 files)
Hudson River Bridge (1st of 3 files)
Hudson River Bridge (2nd of 3 files)
Hudson River Bridge (3rd of 3 files)
Memoirs (1st of 2 files)
Memoirs (2nd of 2 files)
Mississippi Flood Control
New England Flood (1st of 2 files)
New England Flood (2nd of 2 files)
Payson Park Reservoir (Gunite) (1st of 2 files)
Payson Park Reservoir (Gunite) (2nd of 2 files)
President's Message
Proceedings (1st of 3 files)
Proceedings (2nd of 3 files)
Proceedings (3rd of 3 files)
Reynolds Bridge
Rocky River Hydro Electric (1st of 2 files)
Rocky River Hydro Electric (2nd of 2 files)
1933 - 49th Annual Meeting and Proceedings
Advertisements (1st of 2 files)
Advertisements (2nd of 2 files)
Annual Meeting Proceedings (1st of 3 files)
Annual Meeting Proceedings (2nd of 3 files)
Annual Meeting Proceedings (3rd of 3 files)
Appraising Damages and Benefits (1st of 2 files)
Appraising Damages and Benefits (2nd of 2 files)
Cover-Contents-Committees
Early Cement Manufacture (1st of 2 files)
Early Cement Manufacture (2nd of 2 files)
Heavy Construction in Russia
High Early Strength Cement
Memoirs (1st of 2 files)
Memoirs (2nd of 2 files)
Mill Rock Reservoir
Modern Soil Mechanics
Northampton Canal (1st of 4 files)
Northampton Canal (2nd of 4 files)
Northampton Canal (3rd of 4 files)
Northampton Canal (4th of 4 files)
Pages from Annual Report
Precise Survey Hartford MD
President's Address
Professional Registration
Sewage Disposal (1st of 3 files)
Sewage Disposal (2nd of 3 files)
Sewage Disposal (3rd of 3 files)
1938 - 54th Annual Meeting and Proceedings
Advertisers (1st of 2 files)
Advertisers (2nd of 2 files)
Banquet Address
Blasting Methods (1st of 2 files)
Blasting Methods (2nd of 2 files)
Connecticut Boundary Survey (1st of 2 files)
Connecticut Boundary Survey (2nd of 2 files)
Connecticut's Canals (1st of 7 files)
Connecticut's Canals (2nd of 7 files)
Connecticut's Canals (3rd of 7 files)
Connecticut's Canals (4th of 7 files)
Connecticut's Canals (5th of 7 files)
Connecticut's Canals (6th of 7 files)
Connecticut's Canals (7th of 7 files)
Controlling Traffic (1st of 2 files)
Controlling Traffic (2nd of 2 files)
Cover-Title-Committees-Awards
Developments in Structural Engineering
Flood Control Paper 1 (Part 1 of 2)
Flood Control Paper 1 (Part 2 of 2)
Flood Control Paper 2 (Part 1 of 2)
Flood Control Paper 2 (Part 2 of 2)
Flood Control Paper 3
Geologist in Lighter Mood
MDC Sewage Treatment Plant (1st of 2 files)
MDC Sewage Treatment Plant (2nd of 2 files)
Memoirs (1st of 2 files)
Memoirs (2nd of 2 files)
Metering Utility Service (1st of 2 files)
Metering Utility Service (2nd of 2 files)
President's Message
Registration
Sand Filter Plant
State Senate Bill 728
The Merritt Parkway (1st of 2 files)
The Merritt Parkway (2nd of 2 files)
1946 - 62nd Annual Report
Cover through Page 28
War Developments
Construction and Idlewild Airport
Proportioning of Workable Concrete for any Strength
Probable Future Trends in Suspension Bridge Design
Methods and Tolerances for Connecticut Surveyors
Comments on the Code of Recommended Accuracy of Maps
Some Methods of Research in Civil Engineering
Some Engineering Aspects of Flood Control in New England
The River Obstructions of the Revolutionary War (part 1 of 3)
The River Obstructions of the Revolutionary War (part 2 of 3)
The River Obstructions of the Revolutionary War (part 3 of 3)
A Look at Nuclear Power with Binoculars
Preservation of Beckley Furnace at East Canaan, CT, as an Industrial Monument
Proceedings
Constitution Bylaws - The Connecticut Engineer Registration Act
Memoirs and Members
Advertisers
1955 - 71st Annual Report
Cover through Page 22
Advancement of the Young Engineer
Highway Inlets for Catch Basins
Hartford Public Library
Hogback Dam and Development
Functions of a Site Planner
Middletown Power Plant
Transmission Lines Encircling Hartford
Shepaug Hydro-Electric Plant
Traffic and Parking Ills can be Cured
Parking Garages
Pigeon Hole Parking
Traffic Control (Hartford)
State Street Bridge and East-West Highway
Phases of the Present Engineering Act
Local Meetings
Annual Meeting
Memoirs and Membership
Professional Cards and Advertisers
1965 - 81st Annual Report
Cover and Committees
Sub-Drainage
Ring Compression Theory
Developments in Pavement
Developments in Pavement Construction
Connecticut's New Dense Graded Base
Soil-Cement Construction
Durable Concrete for Sidewalks
Has the Tape Become Obsolete
Topographic Map Reproduction
Title Search
Forty Years of Water Pollution Control
Watershed Flood Protection Program
Comprehensive Water Resource Investigations
Gas Industry Past and Present
Natural Gas in the Future
Local and Annual Meetings
Memoirs and Membership
Professional Cards and Advertisers
1975 - 91st Annual Report
Cover, Committees and Awards
Housing and Community Development
Hartford Center
Title Traps and Surveyors
Highways to Trails
Soil Conservation
Energy and the Environment
Offshore Drilling
Meetings
Memoirs
Officers and Membership
Constitution and Bylaws
Professional Cards and Advertisers
Historic Connecticut Highway Bridges
Arrigoni Bridge
Merritt Parkway
Founders Bridge
Long Island Crossings
BUILDING BIG, a five-part PBS television series and website from WGBH Boston.
Railroad History Archive at the University of Connecticut
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The Engineering Collection at the Linda Hall Library
Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute - The Farmington Canal
National Asphalt Pavement Association - History of Asphalt
CSCE welcomes inquiries and more information about Connecticut civil engineering history. If you are interested in learning more about any of the files above or have historical information to share, please send an email to [email protected].
CSCE Awarded the History and Heritage Section Citation for 2010!
ASCE's History and Heritage Committee (HHC) selected the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers Section as the winner of the History and Heritage Section citation for 2010. CSCE was selected for its efforts to scan historic civil engineering information from its proceedings and make the information accessible to students and the general public through its website, and its willingness to work with other historical organizations such as the Connecticut Historical Society to develop historic exhibitions for the public. CSCE would like to thank CSCE History & Heritage Committee Chair (and former CSCE President) Randy States for all his hard work on these efforts on behalf of CSCE!