Frederick West Lander

Frederick W. Lander 1821–1862

Born Salem, Massachusetts

Civil engineer Frederick W. Lander played a pivotal role in facilitating overland migration in mid-nineteenth-century America. In 1858, after serving as the lead scout for the central route of the transcontinental railroad, he surveyed and oversaw construction in the Wyoming Territory of the Lander Trail—a lengthy segment of the first national wagon road.

Lander is believed to have posed for this portrait in 1857––the year Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson appointed him to serve as chief engineer for the survey team tasked with developing the route for the wagon road.