1954 Smith Pictorial Map of the United States

This is M. Smith and Thurston Moore's 1954 pictorial map of the United States celebrating country western music and culture.

A Closer Look

The birthplace of Hank Williams (in Alabama with an explosion of music around it), Burl Ives (Illinois), Gene Autry (Texas), and Will Rogers (Oklahoma) are among the dozens of stars referenced. However, Smith references not only country music singers, but icons of Hollywood westerns (like John Wayne), authors (Mark Twain), outlaws (Billy the Kid and Jesse James), and Native Americans (Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and Tecumseh). Many national parks appear as wonderful vignettes, including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, and Mesa Verde (Cliff Palace). Other locations that include national parks but are not explicitly stated as such are the Badlands and the Black Hills in South Dakota, the redwoods and sequoias in California, and Mt. Rainier in Washington. Smith and Moore couldn't help but include themselves as well. Smith appears in his Studebaker atop Devil's Tower in Wyoming and Thurston Moore's birthplace in Kentucky is marked with a star.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by M. Smith and published by Thurston Moore and Artist Publications, Inc. in 1954. We note a cataloged example in the David Rumsey Map Collection and only two other instances when the map has appeared on the private market.