Alt Text

Map of the contiguous United States with some areas shaded in brown or terrain represented in natural but faded greens and browns.

Extended Description

Most of the eastern third of the map is shaded brown. States are outlined but not named here, though New York, Washington, DC, St Louis, Independence, and New Orleans are labeled in this section. The Mississippi and Ohio rivers are shown with thick blue lines. Notes indicate that goods traveled “by boat to New York” along the Ohio River and “by boat to New Orleans” south on the Mississippi River.

Canals connecting western Pennsylvania with New York are shown in purple. The Great Lakes are labeled above, as are both oceans and the Gulf of America. One blue line starts east from New York into the Atlantic Ocean but fades quickly. Another departs New Orleans and a note here reads, “by boat to London and Paris.” That line fades out near the tip of Florida.

In the western two-thirds of the map, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Oregon, and California are labeled. Other areas are listed as territories, including Dakota Territory, Nebraska Territory, and Indian Territory on modern-day Oklahoma. Other territories include those of Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Salt Lake City in the Utah Territory, Denver in Colorado Territory, San Francisco in California, and Chihuahua in Mexico are labeled. A site near Denver has text reading “Gold discovered 1859.”

A purple line representing the Santa Fe Trail departs Independence and travels west. Sites on or near the trail include Fort Leavenworth (1827), Fort Scott (1842), Fort Riley (1853), Fort Zarah (1864), and Medicine Lodge Treaties, October 1867. On this point on the trail Fort Larned (1859) is labeled in larger, bold, all-capital letters and the location is marked with an American flag.

From here the Mountain Route arches north to pass Fort Dodge (1864), Sand Creek Massacre dated November 1864, Fort Lyon (1867), and Bent’s Old Fort (1833). The Cimarron Route continues southwest and meets the Mountain Route just before Fort Union (1851). Santa Fe marks the end of the purple trail. An orange trail, El Camino Real, travels south from Santa Fe and to and beyond Chihuahua.

Legend

A legend near the bottom right corner of the map reads as follows:

Brown shading for Areas of European American settlement circa 1850,

Brown dashed line for State boundaries in 1863, and

Squares for Selected US Forts.