Sketch of the Public Surveys in Michigan

An uncommon and detailed map of Michigan issued by the General Land Office shortly after the Civil War to show the latest division of the state into land parcels, the distribution of mineral deposits, and the railroad land grants. Six-mile, 15-mile, and 20-mile boundaries either side of the railroad grants are delineated, showing the land to be given to railroad companies to pay for the construction of the lines. Other railroads already in operation are also included on the map, as is a wagon road across the Upper Peninsula. Regions with known iron, copper, and silver deposits are also marked.

The maps issued by the General Land Office were usually functional documents used for legal and bureaucratic purposes such as allocating land to homesteaders, the sale of property and the settlement of legal disputes. They were also used to indicate the extent of geographical knowledge of the United States and to catalogue the possible mineral resources of unsettled parts of the country.

This particular example is unusual in that it has been coloured and backed on linen. Usually General Land Office maps, due to their status as government documents, were left black and white and were printed on thin, inexpensive paper. The special treatment accorded to this example suggests it may have had some promotional function; possible as a show piece for a retailer of the maps or possibly as part of the collection of an ambassadorial library abroad which could be used to encourage immigration into the United States.

Original colour. Laid on linen. [USA9892]