His first job in the new organization under its first Director Clarence King was geographer of the United States Census, 1880. He laid out 2,000 enumeration districts with such precision that for the first time each census enumerator knew in advance the metes and bounds of his particular district. The completion of this work on July 1, 1882 is considered the start of true topographical work in the United States and the birth of the quad. He was promoted to Chief Geographer for the Geological Society by John Wesley Powell and would hold the position until 1896.