Glenn R. Scott--A Career of Geology and Historic Trails

By Frederick C. Brunstein

Glenn Scott in 1975 at the excavation site of a Columbian Mammoth he found in the vicinity of Golden, CO.

Glenn R. Scott is highly respected by his peers for his excellence throughout his 36-year-long career as a USGS geologist. Take that respect and add to it widespread public enthusiasm for his historic trail maps, and you have the makings of a USGS celebrity!

Glenn started his USGS career in 1948, when he was hired as a geologist by the Engineering Geology Branch in Denver. Most of his projects were in Colorado and New Mexico, but he also worked in Kansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. His projects included extensive geologic mapping of plains and mountain areas of Colorado, geologic and coal studies of the San Juan and Raton basins, engineering geology of the Air Force Academy, geology of Chaco Culture National Historical Park, delineating fossil ammonite zones in the Pierre Shale, engineering geology in and around the city of Pueblo, and work on gemstones and rare minerals in the Pikes Peak region. One of the finest crystals of the mineral Genthelvite was found by Glenn, and it is on display at the Smithsonian Museum. Glenn and USGS geologist Bill Cobban collected numerous ammonite fossils from the Pierre Shale in eastern Colorado, enabling them to publish four noteworthy biostratigraphic maps of that formation.

Glenn has been a prolific mapper--he published numerous 7.5- and 15-minute geologic quadrangle maps, as well as geologic maps of the Raton and Springer 1:100,000-scale quadrangles and the Aztec, La Junta, Montrose, Pueblo, and Sterling 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. His favorite of his many published maps is "Geologic map of the Pueblo 1° × 2° quadrangle, Colorado," a USGS map that has stood the test of time. He further reflects that the Pueblo 1° × 2° quadrangle mapping project was his most enjoyable and satisfying project. Among his numerous USGS Professional Papers is the classic, "Quaternary geology and geomorphic history of the Kassler quadrangle, Colorado," which has been used as a textbook by college students and professional geologists alike who want to understand Quaternary geology at the foot of the Colorado Front Range. Even after retirement in 1984, he continued to work on various projects and is still publishing reports as a geologist emeritus for the USGS.

Glenn Scott in 2003 in front of his latest publication, "Historic trail map of the Trinidad 1° × 2° quadrangle, southern Colorado." Sales of the map have been brisk--within 2 years of publishing the first edition, the map has sold out.

Starting in 1964, Glenn began to realize that in addition to relating the geologic record there was an entirely different story he wanted to tell. He was fascinated by the historic trails he encountered during his geology fieldwork--trails used by Native Americans and by pioneers and prospectors who settled in Colorado and New Mexico. He resolved to document those trails before they forever vanished. Using aerial photographs, long forgotten historical archives, and other historical texts, he located historic trails all over eastern Colorado and northern New Mexico, and in 1972 he published the first of his eleven historic trail maps. His most popular trail map is the "Historic trail map of the Denver 1° × 2° quadrangle, central Colorado," published in 1999. Immediately after the map was printed, it became a best seller, with sales so brisk the USGS reprinted 5,000 copies within a year of first printing. All of the other trail maps, especially the Trinidad, Pueblo, and Sterling 1° × 2° quadrangles, have also been good sellers. Next in line is the Leadville 1° × 2° quadrangle, which we all anxiously await. It never ceases to amaze Glenn that he is better known for his 11 historic trail maps than he is for his more than 180 geology publications!

Glenn lives in Lakewood, CO, with his wife of 60 years, Juanita. Both of them were born in Ohio, and they met at a church social in Lakewood, OH. They are understandably proud of their three children: Jeanne (who lives on a farm), James (an entomologist), and Kathleen (a wildlife biologist for the Department of Agriculture). Glenn fondly remembers the days when his young children often joined him in the field. Both Glenn and Juanita are avid genealogists, and he is a former antique bottle collector and a long-time volunteer at the Denver Public Library. For four years during World War II, Glenn was in the U.S. Army Air Force, where he was a photo reconnaissance specialist and an Army Intelligence specialist stationed at Peterson Army Air Field, near Colorado Springs, and at Pueblo Army Air Base.

Without a doubt, Glenn R. Scott is a USGS superstar--contributing to knowledge expansion and interpretation of earth science as well as engaging our many audiences in a celebration of our Western heritage and rich history.