Map of the United States West of the Mississippi Showing the Routes to Pike’s Peak – Overland Mail Route to California and Pacific Railroad Surveys” This is a very unique map showing the routes to Pike’s Peak. Most notably, it shows Jefferson territory, the short lived territory that became Colorado territory in 1861. Arizona is called “Arizonia” and is shown south of New Mexico. It also shows a large Nebraska territory all the way to the Canadian/British territory border. This 1859 map, published by D. McGowan and George H. Hildt, was based on an official map of 1857 produced by the Pacific railroad surveys. In the 1850s, Americans concluded that they needed to build a transcontinental railroad linking the east and center of the country with the Pacific coast. The U.S. Congress authorized the army topographical service to undertake engineering surveys and general assessments of five possible routes: from Saint Paul, Minnesota; from Council Bluffs, Iowa; from Saint Louis, Missouri; from Memphis, Tennessee; and from Vicksburg, Mississippi. Cities, states, and business groups competed fiercely to be the eastern terminus of the transcontinental railroad. This map offers an excellent example of a promotional map used to encourage settlement and investment in the American West. Published in Saint Louis, it emphasizes potential routes emanating from that city. The focus on Pike�s Peak highlights the recent discovery of gold in Colorado. “