Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / Charles W. Sanders / General James Birdseye McPherson, the highest ranking Union officer killed during the Civil War, slowly over time became a largely forgotten figure in the collective memory of most Americans. A brief examination of the general's personal life and military career reveals that his life's narrative presented a captivating story, one which successfully captured the attention of his contemporaries. In the fifty years following his death, several groups of interested individuals sought to honor the general's memory through the construction of memorials. This dissertation approaches the history of McPherson through a memory study focusing particularly on the general's memorialization and the four main locations where the general had monuments built in his honor. In Washington, D.C., Clyde, Ohio, Atlanta, Georgia, and McPherson, Kansas, the attempts to preserve McPherson's memory both succeeded in certain ways but also fell short of accomplishing their primary goal. In the process of memorialization the general was both remembered and forgotten. The funding, unveiling, and preserving of the various monuments illuminates the politics of commemoration as well as the motives behind those seeking to honor McPherson. With the passing of time, McPherson's memory slowly began to evolve in each location and generally changed to reflect the times and circumstances of the citizens. In each case, the McPherson memorials signified something different to the community, including a permanent reflection of local identity, a symbol of sectional reconciliation, or a means of promoting civic pride and local boosterism. Ultimately, although the memorialization of McPherson served as the best attempt to honor the generals' memory, the narrow scope and reach of memorials could not successfully preserve McPherson's memory beyond a very limited range and within small communities of interested parties.

Geologic structures within the Birdseye 7.5 minute quadrangle Utah County, Utah have been related by previous workers to both the Jurassic Arapien Shale diapirism and to the mid-Cenozoic extensional collapse of the Charleston-Nebo Thrust. Whichever model proves valid, it will have implications for oil exploration and interpretation of the subsurface geologic structure in the region. A detailed map of the quadrangle was constructed to better constrain which mechanism was responsible for the deformation. Exposures of Arapien Shale near, and within the Birdseye quadrangle show no evidence of diapiric movement. Arapien involvement in the deformation of Tertiary rocks in the center of the quadrangle is therefore unlikely. Changes in the pattern of sedimentation of Eocene age rocks suggest a change in tectonics during this time. Restoration of the Eocene strata shows that the most plausible mechanism for this deformation is extension along reactivated thrusts in the Arapien Shale, Thaynes Formation, and Woodside Shale, related to Basin and Range extension. The Moroni Formation, a prominent Tertiary volcanic unit present throughout the Birdseye quadrangle, has been used to justify Eocene extension. Deformation with the formation was found to be present only along the Thistle Canyon normal fault, constraining movement along the fault to the Eocene and later. Dip and facies relationships present within the formation mainly are a result of paleotopography rather than extension. Several distinctive units were mapped within the formation, including lahar and fluvial deposits, as well as two different ash-flow tuffs. A depletion in nickel and chromium, an unusually ferroan composition, and distinctive Fe/Ti ratios suggest that the volcaniclastic rocks of the Moroni Formation are similar to volcanic rocks in the Slate Jack Canyon and Goshen quadrangles which lie about 35 km to the west. This implies that the ignimbrites and volcanic clasts in the Moroni Formation were sourced from the East Tintic volcanic center. It further implies that any mid-Tertiary extension between the East Tintic center and the Birdseye quadrangle did not create barriers to sedimentation and was limited in extent.