1863 Mitchell Map of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Idaho

A very ephemeral and surprisingly scarce 1863 Samuel Augustus Mitchell, Jr. map of Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and that part of Idaho Territory which is today Wyoming. The map depicts the region from the Utah-Colorado border to Iowa and Missouri and from the Big Horn Mountains to northern Texas and Santa Fe, New Mexico. This map holds the distinction of being one of the few to include Wyoming as Idaho Territory, which was formed in March 1863. The iteration of Wyoming/Idaho as seen here is exceptionally ephemeral and present only in this edition (1863), with subsequent editions (1864 - 1868) attaching Wyoming to Dakota (See below). Apart from this rare iteration of Idaho Territory / Wyoming, other intriguing aspects of this map include the fact that only about one half of Nebraska and the eastern third of Kansas are illustrated as having been divided into counties, while Colorado only has fifteen counties that vary wildly in relative size. Myriad towns and villages are labeled, along with the Pony Express route and proposed routes for the transcontinental railroad.

The Mapping of Wyoming by Mitchell

This is one of Mitchell's most interesting and an important map, as in many editions, it covers the development of Colorado / Idaho / Wyoming / Dakota from the 1860 creation of Colorado Territory to the 1868 incorporation of Wyoming Territory. This map did not appear in the 1860 first edition of Mitchell's New General Atlas, when this region was still part of Nebraska Territory. Rather, it was introduced in 1861 following the formation of Colorado Territory and the 1859 Colorado Gold Rush. The map went through multiple annual and sometimes semi-annual updates, most of which focused on the Idaho/Wyoming section. Dakota was incorporated as a territory from the northeastern part of Nebraska Territory in 1861 and maps from that period include Wyoming as the 'Southern portion of Dacotah.' After 1863, when Idaho was incorporated as a territory, the map was updated, as seen here, to include Wyoming as the 'Eastern Portion of Idaho.' This edition is exceptionally rare and ephemeral, as in 1864 Montana was organized as a territory out of eastern Idaho Territory, with what is today Wyoming being stripped off of Idaho and re-attached to Dakota Territory, thus subsequent maps reapply the 'Southern portion of Dacotah.' This lasted until the incorporation of Wyoming Territory in 1868.

Publication History and Census

This map appeared in the 1863 edition of Mitchell's New General Atlas. For a detailed breakdown of the maps' history, see above. This map was engraved by William Henry Gamble in Philadelphia, first in 1861, then updated annually through 1868, when it was retired and completely new map was issued. Like many American map publishers of this period, though he did update his maps, Mitchell did not update his copyrights, consequently most examples of this map are dated and copyrighted to 1861. The present map features the attractive floral border common to Mitchell atlases between 1860 and 1866.