General Land Office (GLO)
Dakota Territory, 1866
24 x 21 ½ in
61 x 54 cm
61 x 54 cm
USA9896
Dakota Territory An uncommon and detailed map of North & South Dakota issued by the General Land Office shortly after the Civil War to show the progress of government...
Dakota Territory
An uncommon and detailed map of North & South Dakota issued by the General Land Office shortly after the Civil War to show the progress of government surveys across the territory. Only a tiny fraction of the territory had been surveyed and subdivided for homesteaders in 1866, with most of the area completely uncharted and unexplored by representatives of the United States. The assumed routes of the Missouri River and its tributaries are shown, and Devils Lake in North Dakota is clearly marked. Otherwise, everything north of Sioux Falls and Yankton is speculative with the exception of a few scattered forts.
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; 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. Laid on linen. [USA9896]
An uncommon and detailed map of North & South Dakota issued by the General Land Office shortly after the Civil War to show the progress of government surveys across the territory. Only a tiny fraction of the territory had been surveyed and subdivided for homesteaders in 1866, with most of the area completely uncharted and unexplored by representatives of the United States. The assumed routes of the Missouri River and its tributaries are shown, and Devils Lake in North Dakota is clearly marked. Otherwise, everything north of Sioux Falls and Yankton is speculative with the exception of a few scattered forts.
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; 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. Laid on linen. [USA9896]
