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1881 Powell Map of North America w/ Native American Languages
LinguisticStocks-powell-1891$500.00
Title
Linguistic Stocks of American Indians North of Mexico by J. W. Powell.
1891 (undated) 21 x 18 in (53.34 x 45.72 cm) 1 : 15700000
1891 (undated) 21 x 18 in (53.34 x 45.72 cm) 1 : 15700000
Description
A remarkable 1891 chromolithograph map of North America showing American Indian language groups prepared by J. Wesley Powell under the directly of Henry Gannett, for the Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. The map covers the whole of North America from Honduras to the Arctic Circle. Fifty-eight American Indian regions are identified based upon Powell's careful analysis of regional linguistic groupings. The map gives interesting insights into the early relationships between the various tribes. The Iroquois Confederacy dominates area around Lake Earie, the St Lawrence, and the Susquehanna Valley as far south as the Chesapeake Bay. Another Iroquois groups occupies western Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, and northern Georgia. Siouan dominates the great plains, but there is also an interesting Siouan outpost in the Carolina Piedmont. The western coast, including much of California, Washington and Oregon, feature s a wealth of languishing groups. Given that this area was relatively late to settlement, one wonders if the monolithic linguistic blocks notable throughout the remainder of North America are suggestive of consolidation of American Indian groups in the face of European colonialism.
This map has become quite scarce and now rarely appears on the market. A superb thematic map.
This map has become quite scarce and now rarely appears on the market. A superb thematic map.
Cartographer
John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American explorer, cartographer, geologist, and ethnologist. Powell is best known for his bold exploration of the rapids of the upper Colorado river in the Grand Canyon. Powell was born in Mount Morris, New York. He was the son of an English Methodist preacher. The Powell family relocated to Southern Ohio in 1838 where, under the tutelage of George Crookham, he developed an interest in the natural sciences, history, and literature. Powell became a schoolteacher in Illinois in 1852 but always had a desire to explore the great American rivers. He undertook self-financed explorations of both the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. At the outbreak of the American Civil War he joined the Union Army where took a bullet in the Battle of Shiloh and subsequently lost his right arm. Powell recovered and returned to active duty having earned promotions to the rank of major. He participated in the Atlanta Campaign and the Battle of Nashville where he served on General George Henry Thomas's staff. After the war, Powell returned to teaching and self-financed explorations – including a trip to Colorado. In 1868 Powell began the series of Colorado River expeditions for which he is most famous. He returned to the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon 2 years later with full government sponsorship. This expedition of 1872-1872 produced the first accurate maps of the Grand Canyon. After the expedition he was appointed the first director of the U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution, a position he retained until his death. He also served as director of the U.S Geological Survey from 1881 to 1894. He was an advocate of careful water management in the American west, believing there was not enough water in California to sufficiently irrigate all the lands. In this it seems he has proven remarkably prescient. Powell died while on vacation in Maine and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. More by this mapmaker...
Source
Gannett, H., Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1891.
Condition
Very good. Slight wear and toning on original fold lines. Blank on verso.
References
Schwartz, S. and Ehrenberg, R., The Mapping of America, pl. 198. OCLC 701108120.