1853 Report of an Expedition Down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers...
DESCRIPTION
Report of an Expedition Down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers - Senate Ex. Doc. 59, 32d Congress, 2nd Session. First Edition
By: Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves
Published by: Robert Armstrong
Date: 1853 (published) Washington D.C.
The Sitgreaves Expedition Down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers in 1851 was launched as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 that officially ended the Mexican-American war and ceded what was then Mexican controlled Upper California consisting of present-day California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico to the United States of America.
The expedition was a combined scientific and military mission to explore the Zuni River, the Little Colorado River and the Colorado River, or much of present-day Arizona and Southern California. The primary objective of the expedition was to map the river ways and determine if they could be navigated by river steamers. As was the case with the Northwest Territory in the first few decades of the 19th century, there were no railroads in this new land, therefor the only way for emigrants to settle the land was buy bringing themselves and their supplies into the region via steamers on established river routes.
The expedition experienced a number of encounters with Native Americans of the region. Some of these encounters were friendly and consisted of feasts and trading. Others were deadly and on one account, a soldier that was lagging behind was reportedly attached by over fifty Mojave Natives and discovered as a pincushion for their arrows. After this last encounter, the expedition made its way to Fort Yuma, which was in dire need of provisions after resulting in the need for the expedition to kill and eat their mules before continuing on to San Diego where the U.S. Navy had been established since the Mexican-American War.
This book consist of over 75 prints that include depictions of indigenous people and their way of life, landscape views, and artist renderings of newly discovered reptiles, fish, birds, and plants. At the back of the book is a map in surprisingly clean condition for a mid-19th century folding map titled “Reconnaissance of the Zuni, Little Colorado and Colorado Rivers.” It depicts the country explored by Sitgreaves and their route from the Zuni Mountains west of Santa Fe across Arizona by way of the Little Colorado and overland, taking a route that would later become I-40 through Flagstaff to the Colorado River, then south to Yuma. Locations of the Navajo, Moquis, Yampa, Pau-Utah, and Coyotero Apache tribes are shown.
Many of these tribes would be forced onto reservations in the coming years as part of the agreement between the United States and Mexico to help eradicate the Native American raids into Mexico and of course make was for American that would rush into the region in search of opportunity, typically through mining and opening businesses in mining towns. The Sitgreaves Expedition was a major catalyst for the settlement of the American Southwest and provided important information for what was then new land in the United States of America.
Condition:
Inventory #11202
1200 W. 35th Street #425 Chicago, IL 60609 | P: (312) 496 - 3622
CONDITION
1200 W. 35th Street #425 Chicago, IL 60609 | P: (312) 496 - 3622