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The Smithsonian Institution had a rough/rocky start. (https://www.si.edu/about/history) but finally got off the ground officially in 1846. Part of the reason it struggled for nearly 20 yrs, is that the Europeans made a valid argument "What does America have to show/give to the world in the way of ancient civilizations?"
The French under Napoleon, had raided all the Egyptian tombs, and carried all the treasure back to the Louve in Paris. The British had Stonehenge and the Viking burial tombs, other countries had lead expeditions to the Far East deserts (China, Babylon, Greece)
Why fund an American Museum, that had nothing to offer the world?
But... that all changed in when a man named Mordecai Hopewell walked into the Smithsonian one day and said "I can show you where to dig." - He offered to let them excavate on his family farm.
Mr. Hopewell took them to the exact spot and the hit the jackpot on their very first attempt... The found the "Hopewell / Andena civilization" also known as "The Mound Builders"
(What are the odds of that?)
The Smithsonian was so excited, that the immediately hired a professional surveyor/company to record/document their findings. Ephraim G. Squier [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._G._Squier] & Edwin H. Davis [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hamilton_Davis] were the official surveyors on the project and their publication "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley" - published in 1848 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Monuments_of_the_Mississippi_Valley] which is considered a landmark in American scientific research, because it was the very first Smithsonian Institution's publication/ first volume of its Contributions to Knowledge series.
The book had 306 pages, 48 lithographed maps and plates, and 207 wood engravings. [ complete copy from the Guttenberg Project [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/49668/49668-h/49668-h.htm]
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