1956 Stedman Pictorial Map of New Mexico

A wonderful example of Wilfred Stedman's beautifully illustrated 1956 map of the historical trails through New Mexico. Historic routes and trails are identified, including the Butterfield Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Goodnight Loving Trail, as well as the exploratory routes taken by Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado, Onate, Escalante, and Espejo. Steadman's map also identifies various army forts, pueblos, and national and state monuments. Fantastically illustrated throughout, carriages, cowboys, soldiers, explorers, forts, and wildlife are among the imagery populating the map. An illustration of Coronado himself is situated in the lower left corner. The verso contains information about the various trails and Coronado. The map details the Four Corners, the only point in the United States common to four states, where the boundaries of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado meet.

Publication History and Census

The map was originally prepared and illustrated by Wilfred Stedman for free distribution during the Coronado Cuarto Centennial Celebrations by the New Mexico State Tourist Bureau, a division of the State Highway Department, Santa Fe, New Mexico. This map became extremely popular and has since been widely copied - the present example is the 1956 printing. It is well represented in institutional collections.