the earliest days...

The impetus and vision that created the Indiana University Geologic Field Station came from Charles Frederick Deiss. His experience in the Rockies and his teaching at the University of Montana (1929-45) led him to select the South Boulder Valley as the site for the Field Station when he came to Indiana as department chairman and State Geologist in 1945.

Dr. Deiss selected the South Boulder Valley as the site for the Field Station because "the region offers more extensive and varied geologic phenomena than any other area of equal size in the United States." After a July 1948 visit by the IU Purchasing Agent and the Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, the present site was selected for purchase.

Charles J. Vitaliano was the first full-time instructor in G429 at the IU Geologic Field Station. He taught with Charles Deiss in the first IU course offerings (1947-48) at the Princeton Field Camp near Red Lodge, and became primary instructor for the first course offered at the IUGFS in 1949.