''OREGON, AND UPPER CALIFORNIA'' c 1847 - Mitchell

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''OREGON, AND UPPER CALIFORNIA'' Philadelphia:  S. Augustus Mitchell, c. 1847.   Engraved map with original hand-coloring. (Ref: Reinhartz & Colley, p. 74 – illustrated; Phillips # 6104; Not listed in Wheat). (Image: 15 1/4 x 12 1/2 ’’)

This SCARCE map depicts the region prior to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and prior to the Discovery of Gold in California (both 1848). Throughout the map Indian tribes are located, & trails such as the Louis & Clark Route, Great Spanish Trail, Fremont’s Route, El Camino Real (with the Missions noted) and the Oregon Trail are shown.

This is the first map of the West to appear in an American Atlas The map is First Edition State, determined by a lack of page number, inserted in the second issue of the 1846 Mitchell Universal Atlas & the 1847 as well.

The difference between this & later editions is very clear: The Great Basin information pre-dates Fremont; the route to San Diego from the Gila is not included; elevation of the pass in the Sierras is shown; Owens Valley (River & Lake) is not yet present. Humboldt &Nicollet Lakes are not yet present; Fremont's route to Oregon is shown, but not his route from Walker Lake to Salt Lake, nor any of the regional cartography; the region between Mud Lake & Salt Lake City is similarly uncharted by Fremont.

The tributaries of the Upper Colorado River are substantially incomplete, lacking the White River, Red River etc. The Gila River is shown with its terminus in the Gulf of Mexico & with a radically incorrect course & apocryphal tributaries. There is an apocryphal Sevier River along Rio Colorado.

Shipped unmatted

  • Inventory# M-9606
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