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This land was added to what was then New Mexico territory and as American settlers moved in, this exacerbated what had been a simmering problem in the territory, viz. the difficulty of governing the southern part of New Mexico from the capital, Santa Fe, located in the northeastern part of the territory. Most of the population in New Mexico centered around the capital and in the northern counties and the rugged terrain in the middle of the territory made communication between this area and the southern parts difficult. Those in the southern region--called either "Gadsdonia" or "Arizona"--felt that they were being ignored by the north-centered territorial government, and in 1856 conventions were held in Tucson and Mesilla which called for the creation of a new territory to be created from the southern part of New Mexico. The U.S. Congress, however, deemed that the population was too small to create this territory.
The dissatisfaction of those in the south continued and this only increased as large numbers of new settlers poured in after gold was discovered along the Gila River in 1858. In July 1860, another convention was held in Tucson, which drafted a constitution for a "Territory of Arizona," to be organized out of New Mexico Territory south of the 34th parallel. The convention elected a territorial governor, Lewis Owings, and sent a delegate to Congress.
This time Congress refused to accept the new territory because of the slavery issue. Many of those in the proposed new territory were pro-slavery, with business connections with the southern states, and this new territory lay below the old Missouri Compromise line of demarcation between slave and free states. Thus anti-slavery Congressmen were convinced the new territory would eventually become a slave state, something they were keen to avoid.
When the Confederacy was created in February, 1861, Arizonians finally saw a new opportunity to create their own territory, so a convention was held in Mesilla, which voted on March 16, 1861, to secede from the Union and petition to join the Confederate States. These eastern Arizonians asked those to the west join them, resulting in a convention, held in Tucson, where the westerners voted, on March 28, 1861, to join those in the east in forming the new, secession territory. Owings was again selected as governor, but things didn't proceed any further for a few months.
That summer, Col. John Robert Baylor, from Texas, moved his troops into the area to support the Arizonians' cause. He fought and won the Battle of Mesilla and then on August 1, 1861, declared the creation on the Confederate Territory of Arizona. This act was authorized by the Confederate Congress on January 13, 1862, and then officially recognized when President Jefferson Davis signed the proclamation on February 14, 1862.
The initial victories and political success of the Arizonians lasted only a short time. In March, 1861, at the Battle of Glorieta Pass--just southeast of Santa Fe--a Confederate army was victorious on the field, but their supply train was destroyed and it soon became clear that it was militarily and logistically impractical to try to maintain their forces in New Mexico and Arizona. Thus by July 1861, the Confederate troops had retreated to Texas and the Arizona territorial government set up shop in El Paso. The Confederacy never again wielded any control within the borders of its purported territory of Arizona, but still the territory continued to be represented in the Confederate Congress and troops fought under its banner until the end of the Civil War.
By the 1860s it was clear that New Mexico Territory was too large to be practically governed from Santa Fe and so needed to be divided. When in February 1861 all the Southern representatives left Congress, it was then practical to create new territories in any shape that those in the North wished. In order to preclude a de facto recognition of the Confederate territory and to preclude a potential slave state, Congress decided to create the new territory of Arizona not with an east-west axis from the southern part of New Mexico, but on a north-south axis from the western part of the territory. On February 24, 1863, Congress passed an act to establish a slave-free Territory of Arizona, from the lands lying west of a line run south of the western border of Colorado.
A map of North America at an interesting period in its history. In the north, Alaska is still shown as "Russian Possessions" and what would, beginning in 1867, become Canada is still shown as "British America." In the south, Chiriqui, Veragua, and S. Jago Vero are shown an independent of Columbia, which at that time had control over Panama. In the United States, this map is interesting in showing the pre-Civil War situation in the American West, including a couple of proposed territories. Nevada Territory, though not created for another year, is tentatively shown, as is the proposed horizontal Arizona Territory, running below New Mexico. Arizona was created a year later, but with a north-south shape, rather than the east-west one shown here. $250
Geo. W. Colton. "Pictorial Map of the United States of America." New York: Phelps & Watson, 1860. 32 x 40 1/2. Lithograph by John M. Atwood. Decorative border designed and engraved by W.S. Barnard. Insets of the Atlantic and Isthmus of Panama. Conserved and mounted on new linen. With original rollers. Very good condition. Denver.
An impressive wall map showing the country from coast to coast, as well as Central America and part of the West Indies. The territories as then situated are clearly depicted, including New Mexico and Utah which were gained from the Mexican-American war. The territories of Washington, Kansas, and Nebraska are shown, and this map also contains updated information such as the newly created states of Minnesota (1858) and Oregon (1859). When Minnesota was created a state, the part of the old territory east of the Missouri River was left unorganized, though its inhabitants petitioned to be granted territorial status. It wasn't for three years that the Dakota Territory was officially created; however, this map names this section "Dacotah." Also shown is the never established 'horizontal' territory of Arizona.
Phelps & Watson are known for their "pictorial" maps, which included decorative elements beyond those typically used by the other publishers of the day. Just above the title is a vignette of an American eagle standing in front of a scene of a prosperous port, with various symbols indicating the prosperity of the country's commerce and industry. The elaborate border design includes vignettes from around the area shown, including the Cathedral in Mexico City, the U.S. Capitol, the valley of the Connecticut River, and a scene of Willammette [sic] Falls, Oregon. Also, other vignettes are scattered about the map, including a whaling scene and Penn's treaty with the Indians. $2,800
J.H. Young. "No. 5. Map of the United Sates." From Mitchell's School and Family Geography. Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, [1856]-1860. 10 5/8 x 17. Engraving by E. Yeager. Original hand color. Very good condition. Denver.
A fine map of the United States issued about 1860 in Mitchell's influential School and Family Geography. The map is filled with myriad topographical details, including rivers, towns, lakes, and mountains. Political information includes indications of states and territories, highlighted in contrasting shades. Also shown are early roads and railroads. It is for the American West that the map is of particular interest. Issued a few years after the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the map shows those two territories with considerable information of rivers, newly established towns, forts, and Indian tribes with impressive detail. In the northwest, Oregon was created as a state in 1859, and what was the eastern part of the old Oregon Territory was given to Washington Territory, shown with the unusual shape it retained for only a few years. And, of course, this map contains a nice example of the horizontal Arizona territory. $325
"United States." From Smith's New Geography, by Roswell C. Smith. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott and Co., 1860. 9 7/8 x 12. Lithograph. Original hand color. A few light stains. Very good condition. Denver.
A terrific map of the United States from a fascinating period in the development of the America West, showing not only the horizontal Arizona, but also other mistaken territorial depictions. The year before this map was produced, Oregon was admitted as a state, the eastern part of the old Oregon Territory added to the Washington Territory. This map does show the new state, but incorrectly shows the eastern part of the old territory as a separate territory. That same year, the Comstock Lode rush and Pike's Peak gold rush led to a huge influx into the western parts of the Utah and Kansas Territories, the new settlers both demanding creation of new territories so they could control their own affairs. Those in western Utah were rewarded in 1861 with the creation of Nevada-shown on this map as a proposed territory. Those in western Kansas were also rewarded with a new territory, Colorado, that same year. However, in 1859, the proposal from those in Denver City was for a territory of Jefferson-shown on this map-but with the secession of the Southern states in 1861, the name of a Southern figure was thought inappropriate. There is much other fascinating information, of mountain ranges, rivers, Indian tribes, and forts, but of particular interest are all the proposed routes for the trans-continental railroad, from one just south of the Canadian border to one running just north of Mexico. It was one in the central region-included here-which won out and which was completed about a decade later. $325
"Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, New Mexico." From Smith's New Geography, by Roswell C. Smith. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott and Co., 1860. 9 7/8 x 12. Lithograph. Original hand color. With some stains. Otherwise, very good condition. Denver.
A map from the same geography as that above, but focused just on the part of the United States west of the Continental Divide. $325
"Map of the United States, and Territories. Together with Canada &c." From Mitchell's New General Atlas. Philadelphia: S.A. Mitchell, Jr., 1861. 13 1/2 x 21 3/4. Lithograph. Original hand color. Very good condition. Denver.
A map of the United States at the beginning of the Civil War, issued by S.A. Mitchell, Jr., who took over from his father in 1860 and began to issue his New General Atlas. This is the second edition of his map of the United States and it is one of the most interesting images. Between 1854, with its Kansas-Nebraska Act, and 1860, no new territories were created, but when the southerners succeeded in 1860 and 1861, northerners in Congress were able to act and within months, three new territories were created, all shown on this map. In the upper plains, a very large Dakota Territory was created out of the northern part of Nebraska, which was cut off at the 43rd parallel. Because of the demand for local government both in the Pike's Peak and Comstock gold rushes, the new territories of Utah and Colorado were created, both taking land from the large Utah Territory, and the latter also taking from the western part of Kansas. And, Mitchell was fooled like other publishers of the day, so he shows the never-existing horizontal Arizona territory. There are many other features of interest, including the locations of forts, trails, and the Pony Express route. $325
J. Bartholomew, Jr. "General Map of the United States." Form Black's General Atlas of the World. Edinburgh: A. & C. Black, ca. 1861. 16 1/4 x 21 1/2. Lithograph. Full original hand color. Very good condition. Denver.
An interesting map of the United States by one of the leading British mapmaking firms of the nineteenth century. Adam and Charles Black issued atlases from the 1840s through the 1880s, working to keep their maps as up-to-date as possible. This map is an interesting combination of success and failure in that endeavor. This map was issued just on the eve of the Civil War, a conflict which the British had a keen interest in because of their dependency on cotton and distain of slavery (a list of the slave states is given in the lower left corner). By 1861, Oregon had become a state, but this amp incorrectly shows the political borders when it was still a territory. Otherwise, the map is quite current, showing Dacotah in its initial form (1858-61) and the newly created territory of Nevada (1861), though the map puts the eastern border much too far east, just to the edge of the Great Salt Lake. Interestingly, Colorado Territory was created the same year, but that is not indicated at all.
The most interesting error, though, is a horizontal Arizona Territory, running south of New Mexico. The settlers in the southern part of the New Mexico Territory had been trying since the late 1850s to create a territory of Arizona from its southern half. However, the fact that this would be a southern leaning, slave territory prevented this from happening. When the Confederacy was created, those settlers decided they didn't want to wait, so they voted themselves as a Confederate Territory. The U.S. Congress did eventually, in 1863, create an Arizona Territory, but running north-south, to the west of New Mexico, not as shown here. Black had heard about the proposal for this territory and jumped the gun by showing it in a form it never in fact took (except as part of the Confederacy). CS On Approval
M.M. Drioux & Charles Leroy. "Carte Physique et Politique des États-Unis Canada et Partie du Mexique." Paris: Eugene Belin, ca. 1861-64. From Atlas Universel et Classique. 11 1/2 x 16 1/2. Engraving by Charpentier. Full original color. Very good condition. Denver.
A fascinating map of the United States the presents a distorted attempt by French mapmakers Drioux and Leroy to keep up with the changes to the political landscape of the county between 1861 and 1864. This was a period in which new territories and states were proposed and created in a manner hard enough for an American cartographer to keep up with, but impossible for those across the Atlantic, though Drioux & Leroy did try.
In 1861, three new territories were created, Colorado, Nevada and Dakota, and each is here depicted. Interestingly, the only settlements shown in Colorado are St. Vrain's trading post, Forts Pike, Massachusetts, and Bents, Auraria and Fontaine City. Also that year, the settlers in the southern part of New Mexico tried to form a new territory, Arizona, lying south of the 34th parallel. When Arizona did come in as a territory in 1863, it came in out of the western part of New Mexico, but it is shown here in the incorrect form. In 1863, Idaho was created out of the western part of Dakota, and then a year later the northeastern part of Idaho became Montana. Both of these new territories are depicted, and labeled "Etat projetè), but here Montana is made out of the southern part of Idaho. A final political oddity is the appearance of West Virginia, created in 1862, labeled "Virginie Oc. ou Kanawaha," the latter being a name proposed at one time for the state.
Besides these interesting political divisions, the map is a lovely cartographic statement. The pastel shades highlight the states and territories and topographical information is somewhat sparse, but nicely drawn. Rivers are shown and towns and forts indicated throughout. Locations of Indian tribes are also given. $250
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