1841 Wilkes Map of the Oregon Territory / Vancouver, British Columbia

This important and extraordinary production is Commodore Wilkes' 1841 U.S. Exploring Expedition map of Oregon Territory. The map covers roughly from the 50th parallel to Mount Shasta, the upper Sacramento River, and Great Salt Lake (labeled Youta Lake) and from the Pacific to the Black Hills. It includes, either in part or full, modern day Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Vancouver, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, and California. A large inset occupying left quadrants focuses on the Columbia River where the United States Exploring Expedition lost one of its ships, the Peacock, on the infamous Columbia Bar. Topography is rendered by hachure and the engravers even made some attempt to illustrate the vast pine forests of the Pacific Northwest.

In its day Wilkes' map was the finest and most detailed map of this largely unknown region yet published and is considered by map historian Carl I. Wheat to be 'really quite extraordinary.' Although dated 1841, this map, like the others from the U.S. Exploring Expedition, was actually published in 1845 with Wilkes' official report. As such, the cartography represented here draws not only on the discoveries of the U.S. Ex. Ex. but also later explorations such as those of Lieutenant Fremont in 1843, the oral records of the Hudson Bay Company, and the remarkable explorations of independent trappers like Jedediah Smith. While of course, much of this map is based on earlier cartographic work by Vancouver, Lewis and Clark, and others, the new information presented here be divided into four areas:

1. The Pacific Coast and the regions to the west of the Great Basin, especially the Columbia River Valley as far as Walla Walla, and the Sacramento River Valley, that were actually explored by the U.S. Ex. Ex.
2. Those regions to the east of the Rocky Mountains benefited from the explorations of Lieutenant Fremont. These also include Fremont's South Pass located just northeast of Great Salt Lake (Youta). Fremont is credited in a textual annotation just to the east of the Rocky Mountains.
3. Those regions between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific explored in detail by the trapper Jedediah Smith. Smith is not specifically credited but the note 'This Country is extremely Rocky and rough, the Rivers running through Clift Rocks' is taken directly from Jedediah's map.
4. Those regions to the north of the Columbia River extending well into modern day British Columbia. In order to offer a detailed presentation of these areas Wilkes relied on oral testimony by Hudson Bay Company trappers he met while exploring the Columbia River. These sources are tenuously credited along with Fremont in the upper right quadrant. The most likely source is John McLoughlin, a regional chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company who proved particularly helpful to Wilkes and the expedition in general.

The extraordinary detail presented, nevertheless, can be misleading. The embryonic form of Great Salt Lake (Youta) gives evidence to just how little this area was known. Other errors include the misplacement of various rivers including the Bear River, the Pitts River, and 'Ogdens or Unknown River,' among others.

The U.S. Ex. Ex. arrived in the Pacific Northwest at a crucial historical juncture. According to treaties signed in the early 19th century, both American and British had equal access to the rich lands of the Pacific Northwest. However, due to their control of John Jacob Astor's former trading post at Fort Astoria and an overwhelming presence in British Columbia, regional dominance generally fell to the British Hudson Bay Company - which often militantly opposed the presence of American fur traders and settlers. Nonetheless, American settlers did begin to penetrate the region in increasing numbers. This only increased tensions ultimately spurring the '54-40 or Fight' dispute in which Americans interests, championed by Senator Lewis Linn, advocated for a border a 54 deg. 40' N, far north of its present location. The British, by contrast argued for a more southerly border at the Columbia River. Numerous proposals and counteroffers were fielded by diplomats on both sides. Even so, it was generally accepted that the geography of this region was too poorly understood to suggest a naturally defined border. One of the stated goals of the U.S. Ex. Ex. in the Pacific Northwest was to provide enough cartographic information for diplomats in London and Washington to make an informed decision. Wilkes' report firmly supported Senator Linn's 54 40 border,

the southern border never ought to have been entertained, and cannot be carried into effect without great detriment to our rights, as well as of vast injury to the territory, both as regards its defense, Commercial importance, and to its ever becoming a free and independent state.

Wilkes map thus places the border at the 54 40 line, extending in land as far as the Rocky Mountains, which it follows southward until meeting the current 49th parallel and extending eastward. A second boundary line, further south, also proved definitive of the future California - Oregon border.

This map was prepared by Charles Wilkes and engraved by J. H. Young and Sherman & Smith. Despite being dated 1841, and copyrighted in 1844, it was first published by Lea & Blanchard of Philadelphia to illustrate the atlas volume of the 1845 first edition of Wilkes' official U. S. Ex. Ex. report.

Collectors will note that most of the maps from Wilkes' official report of the U.S. Exploring Expedition were issued in small and large formats. This is the large format edition and is exceptionally scarce. The full run consisted of only 150 presentation copes and 100 official copies. Twenty-five of these are known to have been lost in a fire, leaving only 225 possible examples.