From 1882 to 1922, field geologists from the Lake Superior Division of the US Geological Survey (USGS) began mapping, collecting samples, and taking inventory of the geology and mineral resources of the Lake Superior region. The geologists' field notebooks contain hand-drawn maps, as well as photographs of rock samples (both hand samples and thin sections with accompanying metadata) collected during their survey. In addition to the collection's importance to geologists, it may also be of particular interest to historians and geographers. The Lake Superior Legacy Notebooks Collection was created by the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. It was funded by the USGS National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program.