{{infobox person | name = Ernst Carl Bechly | image = Ernst Carl Bechly.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date|1872|7|24}} | birth_place = Sheboygan, Wisconsin, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1954|3|29|1872|7|24}} | death_place = Chehalis, Washington, US | occupation = {{flatlist| * Surveyor * map maker }} | known_for = early Washington state maps | spouse = Grace Henrietta Foster | children = 1 }}

'''Ernst Carl Bechly''' (July 24, 1872 – March 29, 1954) was an American surveyor and map maker.

== Early life == Ernst Carl Bechly was the first son of Charles Heinrich Bechly and Sophie Keffel.<ref name="retire" /> He relocated with his family from Sheboygan, Wisconsin to Chehalis, Washington in 1891.<ref name="obit">Death Comes to Map Maker, Centralia-Chehalis Daily Chronicle, March 30, 1954, p.1</ref><ref name="retire" /> Bechly served in the Spanish–American War in 1898.<ref name="obit" /> In 1905, he married Grace Henrietta Foster and they had a daughter Constance Josephine.<ref name="obit" />

== Career == In 1903, Bechly began his career with the Lewis County, Washington engineer's department.<ref name="retire" /> He was promoted to county surveyor in 1907, and to county engineer in 1909.<ref name="obit" /> Bechly worked several years surveying the original layout of US 12 across the Cascade Mountains, and he retired in 1950 after 47 years of service to the department.<ref name="obit" /><ref name="retire">Former Sheboygan Man Makes Headlines on the Western Coast, Sheboygan Press, January 25, 1951, p.7</ref>

Bechly was a member of the Society of American Military Engineers, a registered Professional Engineer, a member of the Elks Lodge (No. 1374), and a member of the Reformed Church in America.<ref name="obit" />

Also, Bechly was awarded a United States Patent for "Stringer Separator" in 1937 as a means to extend the service life of stringers in bridge construction.<ref name="patent">[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2088396A U.S. Patent # 2,088,396]</ref>

== Mapmaking ==

Bechly is best known for his map of the Washington Territory, west of the Cascade Range. This map, printed in 1951, showed detail of the military forts, Indian reservations, cities, and other key points that existed in 1870 prior to statehood.<ref name="map1">[https://lccn.loc.gov/map52000537 Library of Congress: Map of Washington territory west of the Cascade Mountains (as of 1870)]</ref> He was also noted for a map of Lewis County, Washington that was published in 1909.<ref name="map2">[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/866117507 1909 Lewis County map at WorldCat]</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechly, Ernst C.}} Category:American cartographers Category:American surveyors Category:1872 births Category:1954 deaths Category:American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Category:People from Chehalis, Washington Category:People from Sheboygan, Wisconsin