.
. near the 41st parallel - June and July, 1854 . Including Rivers and Towns between 119°30' and 123°30´ west longitude and 39° and 42° degrees north latitude. The routes of the Survey Party are indicated, including their campsites, which are indicated by date. More detailed topography is provided for the mountain areas. 18 x 20.5 inches Please click here to see detail scans. Historical notes below Print
Type: Single-sided
Lithograph.
History:
In 1853, the U.S. Congress authorized the Corps of Topographic Engineers
to undertake a survey of potential rail routes between the Mississippi
River and the Pacific Ocean. This print is an illustration from the
report of the survey at the 41st parallel under the leadership of Lt. Edward
G. Beckwith, in the region between the Green River Valley and the Sacramento
River Valley, conducted in 1854. Beckwith's survey was a continuation
of the survey at the 38th and 39th parallels headed by Captain John
Gunnison, which was terminated in October, 1853 after Gunnison, artist
Richard Kern and others were killed by Indians along the Sevier River,
in what is now Utah. The precisely detailed landscape drawings of
Egloffstein were coordinated with the maps produced. The specific
location from which the five panoramas were drawn is indicated on the relevant
map. ~~~ Panoramas of the Sierra Nevada and the Madeline
Pass
The Library of Congress in conjunction with the University of Michigan has put the entire Pacific Railroad Survey on the Internet. If you would like to read the narrative of the survey near the 38th and 39th parallels that corresponds to the Maps and Lithographs, click on the link below and then read the first and second reports in Volume II. |