The American West was an unexplored frontier - and as any explorer knows, the most important thing you need when you're heading to a new location… is a map.

This group of men were called the Wheeler Survey Group. Led by Captain George Montague Wheeler, the Wheeler Group operated between 1869 and 1879, and were tasked with creating topographic maps of the American Southwest.

These maps were later instrumental in the settlement and further exploration of what would later become Western United States, and three of the areas they explored were named after Captain Wheeler: Wheeler Peak in Nevada, Wheeler Peak in New Mexico, and the Wheeler Geologic Area in Colorado.