By Samuel Augustus Mitchell 1
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
Presented is a beautifully engraved, large hanging wall map of the United States, Mexico, and West Indies by Samuel Augustus Mitchell. The map depicts the entire nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. It also included inset maps of the “World on Mercator's Projection” and the “World on Globular Projection,” an inset of the Hawaiian Islands, distance and population tables, and more. First published in 1856, “Mitchell’s New National Map” was one of the most commercially successful maps of its time, regularly amended to update the changing territorial and state borders of the West. This specific map was published in Philadelphia in 1858.
The map presents a compelling picture of an evolving American West, capturing the fluidity of pre-Civil War territorial boundaries. Much changed in the few years surrounding the publication of this map as the 1850s were characterized by the drawing of territorial boundaries, the creation of new states, continued relocation campaigns against Native Americans, and the rise and fall of small-scale territorial rebellions.
On this map we see New Mexico in its late 1850s form, with a lower strip labeled Arizona. The same year as the publication of this map, the New Mexico territorial legislature adopted a resolution in favor of the creation of the Arizona Territory...
Category
1850s American Antique Samuel Augustus Mitchell Wall Decorations