Beautiful example of the General Land Office map of Arizona and New Mexico issued in 1866, just after the end of the American Civil War.

This is the first GLO map on such a scale and the first time it was issued with hand colour. There is little evidence of actual surveys on the map, rather the focus is on the abundant natural resources reported in the Territories. These focus on gold, silver and copper mines. The location of these is keyed in the lower left corner of the map. Several famous trails are marked together with the location Native American tribes.

A point of interest is the location of Las Vegas, on this map still in Arizona.

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; possibly as a show piece for a retailer of the maps or as part of the collection of an ambassadorial library abroad which could be used to encourage immigration into the United States.

Original colour. [USA9883]