Benjamin Alvord ( mathematician ) Benjamin Alvord ( August 18 , 1813 – October 16 , 1884 ) was an American soldier , mathematician , and botanist . Early life and career . Alvord was born in Rutland , Vermont , where he developed an interest in nature . He attended the United States Military Academy and displayed a talent in mathematics . He graduated in 1833 . He was assigned to the U . S . 4th Infantry Regiment and participated in the Seminole Wars . He returned to West Point as an assistant professor of mathematics until 1839 , when he was again assigned to the 4th Infantry . He spent 21 years of his military career with that regiment . He was on frontier , garrison , and engineer duty until 1846 , when he participated in the military occupation of the new state of Texas . Subsequently , he served during the Mexican – American War , being brevetted successively to captain and major for gallantry in a number of important battles including the Battle of Palo Alto and the Battle of Resaca de la Palma . He served as chief of staff to Major Lally ' s column on the march from Vera Cruz to Mexico City in 1847 . He was married in 1846 and had six children . His son , Benjamin Alvord , Jr . , became a soldier and was a general in World War I . His daughter Louise married Thomas Craig , one of the main professors of mathematics at Johns Hopkins University during its first two decades . After the Mexican – American War , he went from line to staff when he was named paymaster and promoted to major . He was assigned to various posts and was sent with the 4th Infantry to the West Coast . He was the engineer in charge of building the military road in southern Oregon . He was then chief paymaster in Oregon from 1854 until 1862 . Civil War service . From 1862 to 1865 , during the American Civil War , Alvord was at Fort Vancouver as the commander of the District of Oregon with the rank of brigadier general of volunteers . He was named to that post by George Wright , the commanding officer of the Department of the Pacific . Wright wanted an experienced Regular Army officer in that post , rather than a volunteer , since the District was large ( encompassing the present - day states of Oregon , Washington , and Idaho ) , underdeveloped , and had a history of friction between the native peoples and settlers . As commander of the District , Alvord built up the defenses around the mouth of the Columbia River , but was unable to do the same for the Puget Sound . Because of low enlistments from Oregon and Washington , he supported the military draft , and failing that , supported the payment of bounties . He was removed from command in March 1865 . He was ordered to the East Coast , where he resigned his volunteer commission and became paymaster in New York City . Postbellum . After the war , he subsequently became paymaster of the District of Omaha and paymaster of the Department of the Platte . He became Paymaster General of the Army in 1872 and served in that capacity until his retirement from active service in 1880 . He was promoted to brigadier general in 1876 . Alvord wrote several books and essays on mathematics , and became nationally known as an expert in the field . His most famous mathematical writings were on the tangencies and intersections of circles and spheres . He also wrote on natural history , writing the first scientific description of the ability of the compass plant ( " Silphium laciniatum " ) to orient itself in a north - south direction , as well as writing about winter grazing in the Rocky Mountains . Alvord was a contributor to Harper ' s Magazine , and a member of the Literary Society of Washington . He died in Washington , D . C . and is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Rutland , Vermont . Alvord Valley and the Alvord Desert in Oregon were named in his honor .