Josiah Edward Spurr was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 geologist

Geologist

A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...

, explorer, and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

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He led the first United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

 expedition to map and chart the interior regions of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, starting with the Yukon Territory in 1896 and continuing with the Kuskokwim River region in 1898. His books were seen as the definitive work on Alaskan minerals during the Alaska Gold Rush. They read like an adventure including the expedition's experiences with ice dams bearing down on them and lost provisions, as well as interactions with native Indians and missionaries. His last book, "Geology as applied to Selenology", published just a year before his death, has been criticised, but was influential in the new field.

Mount Spurr

Mount Spurr

Mount Spurr is a stratovolcano in the Aleutian Volcanic Arc of Alaska, named after United States Geological Survey geologist and explorer Josiah Edward Spurr, who led an expedition to the area in 1898...

 volcano in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, the mineral spurrite

Spurrite

Spurrite is a white, yellow or light blue mineral with monoclinic crystals. Its chemical formula is Ca52CO3.Spurrite is generally formed in contact metamorphism zones as mafic magmas are intruded into carbonate rocks. Spurrite's space group is P 2/a...

, and the lunar crater Spurr

Spurr (crater)

Spurr is the lava-flooded remains of a lunar impact crater. It is located in the midst of the Palus Putredinis plain, to the southeast of the crater Archimedes...

 are all named after him.

His children were Edward "Ted" Spurr, an entrepreneur; John Spurr, a publishing executive; William Alfred Spurr, Professor of Statistics at Stanford; Robert A. Spurr, professor of chemistry at the University of Maryland; and Stephen H. Spurr, an authority on forestry and forest ecology

Forest ecology

Forest ecology is the scientific study of the interrelated patterns, processes, flora, fauna and ecosystems in forests. The management of forests is known as forestry, silviculture, and forest management...

 and former president of the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

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There is a recent biography of him by Stephen J. Spurr, an economist who is his grandson.

Books

He was a prolific writer, with books about geology and exploration including:

• "The Iron-Bearing Rocks Of The Mesabi Range In Minnesota", 1894
• "Geology Of The Aspen Mining District, Colorado, With Atlas", 1898
• "Geology of the Yukon Gold District, Alaska, Exploration and Surveys", 1898
• "A Reconnaissance In Southwestern Alaska, In 1898", 1900
• "Through the Yukon Gold Diggings: a Narrative of Personal Travel", Eastern Publishing, Boston, MA, 1900
• "The Exploration of the Kuskoquim River and the Valley of the Ten Thousand Smokes", privately printed, Boston, MA, c. 1900
• "Ore Deposits of Monte Cristo, Washington", 1901
• "The Ore Deposits Of Tonopah, Nevada (Preliminary Report)", 1903
• "Descriptive Geology Of Nevada South Of The Fortieth Parallel And Adjacent Portions Of California", 1903
• "Geology Applied To Mining; A Concise Summary Of The Chief Geological Principles, a knowledge Of which is necessary to the understanding and proper exploitation of ore-deposits, for mining men and students", 1904
• "Geology Of The Tonopah Mining District, Nevada", 1905
• "Ore Deposits Of The Silver Peak Quadrangle, Nevada", 1906
• "Economic Geology Of The Georgetown Quadrangle (Together With The Empire District) Colorado, by Josiah E. Spurr and George H. Garrey, with General Geology by Sydney H. Ball", 1908
• "Political And Commercial Geology And The World's Mineral Resources; a Series Of Studies By Specialists", J.E. Spurr, Editor, 1920
• "The Ore Magmas; A Series Of Essays On Ore Deposition", McGraw-Hill, 1923
• "The Marketing Of Metals And Minerals; A Series Of Articles By Specialists", edited by Josiah Edward Spurr and Felix Edgar Wormser, 1925
• "Geology Applied To Mining; A First Book Of General Geology And Metallology", 1926
• "Geology Applied To Selenology", 1949