Ebert, Frederick J.

Frederick J. Ebert (January 17, 1822 - May 3, 1888) was a German surveyor and civil engineer active in the American Midwest and in Colorado during the middle to late 19th century. Ebert was born in Brunswick Germany where he studied at the Academy Collegium Corolinum to become a forestry engineer. During the Revolution of 1848 he was an officer under the Duke of Brunswick. Around 1850, as a result of the tribulations that followed the Revolution, he moved to the United States. He lived for one year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where is mastered English, before relocating to St. Louis where he found employment as a civil engineer. In 1860 he moved to Denver where he was employed to survey the Kansas Pacific Railroad as far as the headwaters of the Republican River. Later he took work with W. A .H. Loveland to survey a road from Denver to Central City - a particularly mountainous route. He most significant cartographic achievement was the drafting of the first map of Colorado territory, issued in 1862 with the assistance of Surveyor-General John Pierce at the command of Governor Gilpin. This became the definitive map of Colorado until 1871, when more sophisticated maps were released. Afterwards, in 1863 Ebert took a position as the city engineer of Denver. After two terms in this position Ebert became a business man investing in the stock and dairy business as well as organizing the Exchange bank. Later he became involved in Colorado politics and helped draft the Colorado constitution. He died on May 3 of 1888.