1857 Thomas Devine Map of Northwestern Canada - a landmark map!

Magnificently huge, this is Thomas Devine's 1857 large-scale map of Canada west of the Hudson Bay. It is the first map of the West published and issued in Canada, and as such can be considered an essential document of the Canadian westward expansion.

A Closer Look

The map's very possessive title communicates its purpose: to promote ownership over and settlement of the 'North West Part of CANADA.' Its coverage extends from James Bay and the Great Lakes westward to the Pacific, and from the high Arctic as far south as Chicago and the Columbia River. The whole is richly colorized and annotated to promote the region's unexploited richness and potential wealth.

A Map to Promote Westward Migration

By 1856, Canada had asserted tenuous claims to its northwestern territories, but little was known of their potential. Instead, the western part of Canada was controlled by the secretive Hudson Bay Company whose governor, Sir George Simpson, testified that the region was inadequate for settlement and offered a paucity of resources. On the other side of the argument were the Expansionists, who were eager to migrate westward and saw the Canadian prairies as an attainable Eden. To address this question, the Commissioner of Crown Lands for Canada, then Joseph-Édouard Cauchon, a dedicated expansionist with business interests in Manitoba, ordered his chief surveyor Thomas Devine to compile a grand map assessing the region.

R. Douglas Francis, in his book, The Prairie West as Promised Land describes Devine's map as

One of the best examples of the changing perspective on the land … a product of the expansionist impulse.

Cartographically Devine derives his map from the works of Aaron Arrowsmith, but with significant expansion and annotation intended to promote his mission of westward migration. Devine draws his glowing reviews of the region from several sources, all carefully cited, including Alexander Mackenzie, Lieutenant Saxon, Sir George Simpson, Ballantyne, Captain Pope, Governor Stevens, and others. Some the descriptions are wildly glowing:

Capt. Pope says, 'The Red River Valley is an unbroken level of rich prairie, intersected by well-timbered tributaries. Elm, oak, maple, ash, etc. From richness of soil uniform surface, and wood and water it is among the finest wheat growing countries in the world. All the cereals and vegetables grow in abundance. Climate Salubrious.'

In addition, the map addresses the terrain and mineralogical resources, identifying copper deposits along Lake Superior, and a coal belt running from Great Bear Lake to the Canada-US boundary. Soil types and other geological formations are noted using color coding to distinguish regions. The map also includes some detail within the United States, including the Gov. Stevens route for the Northern Pacific Railroad, and John Jacob Astor's fur trading post at Astoria, and manned border fortifications.

The British North American Exploring Expedition

In the same year this map was issued, the British North American Exploring Expedition, under John Palliser set off. The expedition investigated the geography, climate, and ecology of western Canada. This was the first detailed and scientific survey of the region from Lake Superior to the southern passes of the Rocky Mountains. Until the publication of the Palliser map in 1865, the present map was the finest and most detailed large scale map of this region.

Publication History and Census

This map appears in two editions. One edition was published as one of 8 maps included with a supplement to the 1857 Report of the Commissioner of Crown Lands, in this case Joseph-Édouard Cauchon. That example is on thin paper, typically uncolored, and was issued by S. Derbishire and G. Desbarats. The other example (as offered here) is a richly colored, dissected, separate issue published privately by Maclear and Company. It is of note that Cauchon, who ordered this map produced, resigned from his position as Commissioner of Crown Lands just one month after it was published. While there is no clear evidence linking Cauchon to the privately published edition offered here, it would certainly have been in his character (bold, brash, and enterprising) to have been involved in the promotion of this blatantly expansionist document which perfectly aligned with his own business interests. We note two examples cataloged in OCLC, which are part of the collections at Yale University and the University of Guelph.