1856 Sketch of Public Surveys in New Mexico...
Sketch of Public Surveys in New Mexico to Accompany Report of Surveyor General
By: U.S. General Land Office
Date: 1856 (published) Washington D.C.
Dimensions: 22.75 x 23.5 inches (58 x 59.5 cm)
A flawless example of the earliest U.S. Governmental land survey of the New Mexico Territory, published just eight years after the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War and officially incorporated New Mexico as a western territory of the United States.
The map extends from the present-day borders of Southern California to eastern New Mexico, including much of what is now New Mexico and Arizona with portions of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. It centers on the newly established principal meridian that closely follows the path of the Rio Grande. The map comes just two years after the Gadsen Purchase of 1854 which would establish the diagonal southern border of Arizona we known today.
While existing towns and villages like Taos, Santa Fe and Valverde are not represented in the map, many Native American tribes and noted throughout. Locations of the Kiowa, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Utas, Moquis, Navajo Mojave and many bands of the Apache Nation including the Mezcalero, Coyotero, Tontos, and Jicarilla to name a few are noted in a capital letter font.
All known rivers and ranges of the southern Rocky Mountains are delineated and named with many others not yet represented. One noteworthy omission is the Grand Canyon, which would be explored just one year later by Lt. Joseph Christmas Ives who would commanded an expedition up the Colorado River from its mouth in 1857-58 using his own designed and built stern-wheel steamboat.
Condition: Map is in A+ condition lacking the usual dark paper toning usually found along fold lines in these maps. Additionally, it has been professionally flattened and linen-backed for preservation and presentation purposes. A superb example by every measure.
Inventory # 12481
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