Charles Preuss and Work

I went to a Sarah Vowell talk last night. She spent quite a bit of time on Charles Preuss. Pruess was the cartographer on three Fremont expeditions. His maps were key to the United States's expansion into the West. He was very good at making beautiful maps with side notes that provided useful information for pioneers. He found his calling, Sarah said, but he hated life in the frontier. To do the work he loved, he had to live in a way he hated. For health reasons, he gave up the expeditions at age 50. He committed suicide in 1854.