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1879 Wheeler Map of Northeastern Nevada, Northwestern Utah
UtahWNevadaE-wheeler-1879$350.00
Title
Parts Of Eastern Nevada And Western Utah, Atlas Sheet No. 49.
1879 (dated) 17.25 x 20.5 in (43.815 x 52.07 cm) 1 : 506880
1879 (dated) 17.25 x 20.5 in (43.815 x 52.07 cm) 1 : 506880
Description
A detailed c. 1879 George Montague Wheeler survey map of northeastern Nevada and northwestern Utah, issue for the Topographical Atlas Projected to Illustrate United States Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian of Longitude. It is one of the earliest detailed maps of this region and includes interesting details on the Native American and early American inhabitants of the area, including mines, ranches, and early settlements.
A Closer Look
Covering an area around Ruby Lake, Franklin Lake, and the now dried up Goshute (Gosiute) Lake in northeastern Nevada, the map presents buttes, peaks, valleys, waterways, and other natural features (the Goshute people are the native inhabitants of the region and now largely reside in a reservation that straddles the Utah-Nevada border in the Deep Creek Valley at right here). Considerable evidence of human habitation is also present, from the tracks of early American military explorers - Captain James H. Simpson and Lieutenant Edward Griffin Beckwith - to remnant Native American settlements ('Indian Rancheria'), telegraph lines, wagon roads, and railroads (the Central Pacific, part of the first Transcontinental Railroad, at top-left). Some features are simply referred to by definition - 'ranch,' 'springs,' 'settlement.' Several of the named settlements here still exist, such as Eureka towards bottom-left (Elko, just beyond the scope of this map, was an important stop on the Central Pacific), while others grew up alongside mines and eventually became ghost towns, such as Schellbourne, Centerville, and the optimistically-named Bullion City.The Wheeler Survey, 1872 - 1879
One of the 'Four Great Surveys' of the American West, the expedition led by U.S. Army officer George Montague Wheeler was tasked with creating geologic and topographic maps of the territory west of the 100th meridian at the scale of eight miles to one inch. Like the other three 'great surveys' that took place around the same time, led by Clarence King (Fortieth Parallel Survey), John Wesley Powell (Green and Colorado Rivers, including the Grand Canyon), and Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, focusing on the Yellowstone Region), the Wheeler Survey collected a wide range of information on Native American cultures (including early photographs), flora, fauna, and other topics in addition to its surveying work. Veterans of these expeditions went on to illustrious careers in the military, geology, cartography, photography, painting, and other fields. In 1879, Congress formally merged these projects to create the U.S. Geological Survey.Chromolithography
Chromolithography, sometimes called oleography, is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired product. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it emerged as the dominant method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery.Publication History and Census
This map was prepared by George Montague Wheeler, was 'drawn' (del.) by Weyss, Herman, and Lang, likely employees of Julius Bien, and was printed by Graphic Company Photo-Lithographers for publication in Topographical Atlas Projected to Illustrate United States Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian of Longitude, published between 1876 and 1881. Due to the intermingling of physical and digital examples, and originals and photocopies, in OCLC catalog listings, a true census of this map is difficult to establish, though it appears to be well-representing in institutional collections and is also held by the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.CartographerS
George Montague Wheeler (October 9, 1842 - May 3, 1905) was a surveyor and cartographer best known for leading the U.S. Government's geographical surveys west of the 100th meridian, better known as the Wheeler Survey. Born in Massachusetts, Wheeler attended West Point and graduated near the top of his class in 1866. He joined the Army Corps of Engineers and was dispatched to the American West, before being chosen to lead the ambitious survey that came to be associated with his name, which lasted from 1872 to 1879. More by this mapmaker...
Graphic Company (1872 - 1890), or The Graphic Company, was a New York City based printing house in the latter half of the 19th century. The company was founded by the brothers James H. Goodsell and C. M. Goodsell. The Goodsell Brothers were born in Michigan and, for a time, ran a printing business in Chicago, which they lost during the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. They moved to New York in 1872, drawing investors and founding The Graphic Company with $500,000 USD in investment capital, much of it from Canada where it was publically traded. Among their investors were the prominent Republicans Alexander Robey 'Boss' Shepherd and Benjamin Franklin Butler. It was originally created as a newspaper, The Daily Graphic, but quickly expanded to other forms of printing. In 1873, they concocted a publicity stunt to build a giant branded balloon to send aeronauts John Wise and Washington H. Donaldson across the Atlantic in just 60 hours – an attempt that ended in disaster in a Connecticut field just 120 miles from its starting point. By 1874, The Graphic Company advertised as general lithographers, engravers, and power press printers, with specializations in commercial lithography (stock certificates, checks, notes, etc), presentation cards, chromolithography, and photo-lithography. Within a year, they had become a large and successful printing house, largely due to large government printing contracts that may have been dubiously obtained, possibly through investors Sherman and Butler. In 1878, they introduced an additional periodical, The Weekly Graphic. The Goodsells sold their shares in The Graphic Company by at least 1886. By 1888, the company changed its name to the American Graphic Company. In 1889, it was advertised as the Graphic Publishing Company. For most of its operation, the company was located at 39-41 Park Place, New York. The firm was dissolved by court order in March of 1890. The Goodsell Brothers were also, from 1872, publishers of the Financier, a successful financial journal based at 156 and 158 Broadway, and the Insurance Spectator. Learn More...
The United States Geological Survey (1878 - Present), aka the U.S.G.S., is a scientific agency of the United States government, which was founded in 1879. USGS scientists study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines: biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. It is a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior and is the department's only scientific agency. Learn More...
Julius (Julien) Bien (September 27, 1826 - December 21, 1909) was a German-Jewish lithographer and engraver based in New York City. Bien was born in Naumburg, Germany. He was educated at the Academy of Fine Arts, Cassell and at Städel's Institute, Frankfurt-am-Main. Following the suppression of the anti-autocratic German Revolutions of 1848, Bien, who participated in the pan-German movement, found himself out of favor in his home country and joined the mass German immigration to the United States. Bien can be found in New York as early as 1849. He established the New York Lithographing, Engraving & Printing Company in New York that focused on the emergent chromo-lithograph process - a method of printing color using lithographic plates. His work drew the attention of the U.S. Government Printing Office which contracted him to produce countless government maps and surveys, including the Pacific Railroad Surveys, the census, numerous coast surveys, and various maps relating to the American Civil War. Bien also issued several atlases both privately and in conjunction with a relation, Joseph Bien. At the height of his career Bien was elected president of the American Lithographers Association. After his death in 1909, Bien's firm was taken over by his son who promptly ran it into insolvency. The firm was sold to Sheldon Franklin, who, as part of the deal, retained the right to publish under the Julius Bien imprint. In addition to his work as a printer, Bien was active in the New York German Jewish community. He was director of the New York Hebrew Technical Institute, the New York Hebrew Orphan Asylum, and president of the B'nai B'rith Order. Learn More...
Source
Wheeler, G. M. et al, Topographical Atlas Projected to Illustrate United States Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian of Longitude..., (New York: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) 1876 - 1881).
Condition
Very good.
References
Rumsey 2738.032. OCLC 48159778, 39510426, 838838276.