1797 Carte Générale d’une Partie de la Côte du Nord-Ouest de l’Amérique
DESCRIPTION
This is an imporatant late 18th-century map charting the West Coast of North America from Mount St. Elias, Alaska, south to Monterey Bay, California, published in the Atlas du Voyage de La Pérouse. Compiled from direct observation by the French frigates La Boussole and L’Astrolabe, the map traces the expedition’s progress along the coast with remarkable specificity, often marking positions and coastal features on an almost daily basis.
Cartographic Detail and Notable Place Names
The map emphasizes hydrographic accuracy over interior detail, presenting bays, capes, islands, and anchorages essential to navigation. Noteworthy place names include Mont St. Élie (Mount St. Elias), Port des Français (Lituya Bay), Nootka and Baie de la Trinité on Vancouver Island, Cap Blanc, and Monterey. Subtle topographical indications appear where observed, particularly along rugged stretches of coast where surveyed, while large stretches remain intentionally unfilled, clearly signaling the incomplete state of contemporary knowledge and the expectation of future voyages.
La Pérouse and the Pacific Coast Expedition
Commanded by Jean-François de Galaup, the expedition of 1785 to 1788 was undertaken at the direction of King Louis XVI to advance French scientific and geographic knowledge in the Pacific. La Pérouse’s exploration of the North American coast formed a central part of this mission. After arriving at Monterey in September 1786, he documented Spanish colonial life and Indigenous communities before proceeding northward, charting the coasts of present-day California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. The voyage reached Nootka Sound in early 1787, a key site of Indigenous trade and European contact, before continuing into Alaskan waters.
Legacy and Historical Importance
By June and early July 1787, La Pérouse was surveying the coast near Mount St. Elias, conducting detailed observations under hazardous conditions in poorly understood seas. Although the expedition later vanished in the Solomon Islands, the materials sent back to France ensured that its scientific results survived. This map stands as one of the most important cartographic records of the voyage, capturing both the precision and the limitations of Enlightenment-era exploration, and providing a foundational reference for later navigation, exploration, and territorial understanding of the Pacific Northwest.
CONDITION
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