Waldemar Lindgren Feb. 14, 1860-Nov. 3, 1939 Born in Kalmar, Sweden Son of Johan Magnus & Emma Margareta Bergman Lindgren's father was a judge and member of parliament, his mother the daughter of a clergyman and a woman of distinguished lineage, and Lindgren grew up in a home of refinement and culture. A book on mineralogy and a visit at the age of 10 to the west coast of Sweden where rocks are beautifully exposed combined to instill in him an interest in geology. By the time he was 17 he had seen the mines of centrla Sweden and the famous old silver workings of Kongsberg in Norway. He entered Europe's foremost mining school, the Konigliche Bergakademie at Freiberg, Germany. He was graduated in 1882. To a young mining geologist in the 1880s the rapidly growing mining industry of the Western United States had an irresistable call, and in June of 1883 Lindgren sailed to America.
A letter of introduction lead to a position on the staff of a survey which Raphael Pumpelly was directing for the Northern Pacific Railway. The survey was disbanded the next year, but in November 1884 Dr. George F. Becker who headed the Pacific division of the United States Geological Survey, appointed Lindgren a member of his staff. Nine years of geological field work in the western states followed. Lindgren's long apprenticeship on the Geological Survey lead ultimately to the position of chief geologist in 1911.
In 1908, Lindgren had begun lecturing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1912, he moved to Boston to become professor and head of MIT's Department of Geology. His published writings run to nearly 200 titles, not counting discussions, reviews, and more than 1,000 abstracts. Most of his papers and books are on the great ore deposits. extract from Dictionary of American Bibliography to Dec. 31, 1940, Volume 22
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More on Waldemar Lindgren:
[Editor's Introduction | "Gold Belt of Eastern Oregon"]Read our other gold mining editions:
[Sumpter, Oregon 1900 | Gold Seekers Rush to California]
[ Oregon: Land of Gold & Opportunity | Dequille Reports from the Comstock]
Bridget E. Smith, editor & publisher
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