Map of the United States and Canada. Shows rivers, lakes, forts, settlements and Indian country. One of the earliest maps to show the city of St. Louis.
A soldier who traveled extensively through the early military defenses of New France, Lahontan related a very early picture of the western lands, one of the most comprehensive to his time and his maps of the Great Lakes and the Upper Mississippi are some of the first to show the Missouri-Mississippi river confluence. Lahontan was an especially valuable correspondent on the state of the native peoples of the French colonial lands.
From Karl Bodmer's "Illustration to Maximilian Prince of Wied's Travels in the Interior of North America. London : Ackerman & Co. 1844. First edition was published in Germany, 1839. See David Rumsey's Map Collection entry for more information.
Map from Scott's "The United States Gazetteer Containing an Authentic Description of the Several States." Philadelphia: Bailey, 1795. Very little is shown to known west of the Mississippi in Scott's popular Gazetteer.
The first of these maps was from a French school atlas which gave clear information on names of waterways, lakes, mountain ranges, native tribes, along with cities and states. The trans-Mississippi, in an interesting French administrative style, are drawn up in districts, the earliest western state, of Missouri, being in the “Ozark district”., From "Atlas Geographique dresse sous la Direction du Conseil Royal de l’instruction publique pour l’usage des colleges." Paris: Selves, 1832
An early European map showing the origin of all the major rivers in one high elevation, still strongly viewed as a possibility in the unexplored territories. The young United States, including Missouri and Arkansas, are outlined in yellow—“Missiri” is the territorial name, “Sn. Luis” is the name used for the state of Missouri. The Pacific Northwest is outlined in blue as “Colombia” and, again