Newton Horace Winchell

Who was Newton Horace Winchell?

Newton Horace Winchell was an American geologist responsible for the six-volume The Geology of Minnesota: Final Report of the Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, which is the work of Winchell and his assistants. A bibliography of his publications by Warren Upham in the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America contains almost 300 titles.

Born in New York State, Winchell attended public school in Connecticut and then taught school in Connecticut and Michigan. While teaching in Michigan he graduated from the University of Michigan and received a Master of Arts degree in 1867. He then did geological studies in Michigan, Ohio, and New Mexico.

Winchell settled in Minnesota in 1872 when he was appointed to direct "The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota". At the same time he taught courses in geology, botany, and zoology at the University of Minnesota. He had a reputation for "great diligence and honesty" and was considered "an honest, very competent geologist".

When he accompanied the Custer expedition to the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1874, Winchell prepared the first geological map of that area.