The Territories of Washington and Oregon

A rare and wonderful map giving us the large territorial borders for the Pacific Northwest states, here stretching to the continental divide in the east. This is an interesting map as it not only depictions these expansive borders, but provides accuracy and detail that is unparalleled for the time. Development along the coast is occurring quickly, and numerous counties are found along the coast, growing sparse toward the east. In the eastern portion of this map we see an honest depiction of what was known, with basic terrain and major river systems. While this pre-dates Idaho, we do see “Fort Boisee”, “Fort Owen” and “Fort Hall”. Proposed railroad routes are shown heading toward the coast. Condition is very good, though the paper is slightly toned with age. Colton atlases, especially those from the late 1850s, have become increasingly rare. The General Atlas was the first single edition atlas published by the Colton brothers succeeding the expensive two volume Atlas of the World. The Colton firm refused to compromise quality, choosing to compete for sales in the finer quality international market rather than the cheap domestic one. Because of this, all maps were engraved by steel plates rather than by wax engraving which was the most common method used at this time. This map of Washington and Oregon is very detailed. It shows lakes and rivers, mountains, regions and or provinces, railroads, wagon trails, cities and towns, and many other details. Muted pastel hand coloring in pink, blue, green, and yellow.

Out of stock