1842 Greenleaf Map of the Republic of Texas

This is Jeremiah Greenleaf’s 1842 map of the Republic of Texas. This highly sought-after map is one of the best depictions of the Republic produced during its brief existence.

A Closer Look

Rivers and topography are elegantly engraved, trails and forts well detailed, and the Republic's counties are presented with stippled borders and original wash color. Austin - founded in 1839 - is shown as the capital, with the old capital of San Felipe de Austin also identified. Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Richmond, and San Antonio are all noted. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the eastern portion of the Republic of Texas is well detailed. The west is virtually devoid of settlement indicating 'the progress of settlement and the nearly total lack of information in the west, a region that was to remain primarily the domain of the Comanche and the coyote for another thirty years.' (Martin and Martin) The locations of various Indian tribes are noted as well. The map includes parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mexico, and the southern part of the Indian Territory. The actual outer borders of the Republic are ambiguous, perhaps deliberately, with regard to the border with Mexico.

Republic of Texas

The Republic of Texas was a short-lived nation established in March of 1836 when it ceded from Mexico. Following the independence of Mexico from Spain, the American Stephen Fuller Austin lead a group of 300 Empresarios to settle Texas, near Austin, where they received a grant from the Mexican government. As more Americans moved to Texas, resentment and strife began to build between the American settlers and Mexican authorities. This and other factors ultimately led to the Texan Revolution in 1835 and the declaration of Texan independence in 1836. Texas remained an independent republic until it joined the United States 10 years later in 1846.

The Republic of Texas Borders

The borders of the Republic of Texas were in dispute from the earliest days of the Texan Revolution. The Republic-claimed borders followed the Treaties of Velasco between the newly created Texas Republic and Mexican leader, Antonio López de Santa Anna. The treaties established an eastern boundary following the 1819 Adams-Onís Treaty between the United States and Spain, which established the Sabine River as the eastern boundary of Spanish Texas and western boundary of the Missouri Territory. The Republic's southern and western boundary with Mexico was more nuanced. Texas claimed the Rio Grande del Norte as its western and southernmost border, while Mexico argued for a boundary much further east at the Nueces River. When Texas was annexed into the United States, the agreement followed the Republic claimed boundary, thus absorbing Mexican claimed territory as far west as Santa Fe. This escalated already existing tensions between the United States, the former Republic of Texas, and Mexico, ultimately triggering for the Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848).

Publication History and Census

This map is rare. We find only three separate examples of the 1842 map in OCLC listings, at Yale, Texas Tech, and the Clements. Only two instances of the 1842 New Universal Atlas appear in institutional collections. We have seen this map appear in price records only four times going back to 1991.