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Article: Wilkes Expedition
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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WILKES EXPEDITION
WILKES EXPEDITION.
The Wilkes Exploring Expedition began life as the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1836, authorized by Congress to chart the southern Pacific beyond Hawaii. After delays, Commander Charles Wilkes led six ships into the area in 1838. He was accompanied by several scientists, including a geographer, a geologist, and a naturalist. It was an amazingly comprehensive voyage, touching Antarctica and Australia in the south, and then ranging northward to the Oregon coast. In between, he completed his charge by not only enumerating and describing the Marianas and Fijis, but other islands as well. The scientific data and samples of that expedition were important ...