Coming soon to the Sarkey’s Energy Center at the University of Oklahoma, the first hand drawn geologic map of Oklahoma.
Drawn in 1904 by Charles N. Gould, the “father of Oklahoma geology,” it was discovered by accident in 2014.
According to Geology Notes, the publication of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, , Oklahoma Geological Survey Geologist Brittany Pritchett and Cartographer Jim Anderson stumbled onto the map in a storage room. They immediately realized what they had found.
Gould was not only the founder of the Oklahoma School of Geology but was the first director of the Oklahoma Geological Survey.
“Looking at the map with the handwritten notes, contacts, and water coloring, Anderson and I immediately knew we had something special. The colors were vibrant, and, with the exception of three damaged areas, it appeared to be in decent shape,” Pritchett wrote in Oklahoma Geology Notes, OGS’s publication.
But the map needed repaired. The frame was broken and some of the paper was deteriorating. It has taken professionals time and energy to restore the rare map.
It will be hanging soon in the Youngblood Energy Library in the Sarkey’s Energy center, according to Joyce a. Stiehler, Office Manager at the Oklahoma Geological Survey.
“We’re waiting on OU professionals to hang it,” she told OK Energy Today. “We put in the request 2 weeks ago but with the return of students to campus, they’re busy.”