1846 Bradford Map of the United States w/full Texas

This is the scarce 1846 Thomas G. Bradford map of the United States. The map was published shortly before the outbreak of the Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848) and reflects three critical border disputes: the southwestern border between Mexico and the newly-admitted State of Texas (Congress voted to annex Texas on December 29, 1845), United States claims on Upper California, and the 54°40' dispute or Oregon Question in the Pacific Northwest.

A Closer Look

Coverage embraces the continental United States. Key points regarding Texas, British Columbia, and Upper California are addressed below. Other areas of interest include the ephemeral configuration of the Midwest, including Iowa Territory (1838), an expansive Indian Territory (1834, reflecting relocations associated with the Trail of Tears), and a large unnamed territory encompassing modern-day Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.

In California, San Francisco is illustrated but not named. In Oregon, Astoria is co-named Ft. George, reflecting its British occupation between 1814 and 1818. The Great Salt Lake is here identified as Timpanogos. Just to the west, a river labeled 'St. Mary's or Ogden's River' (after Peter Skeen Ogden) terminated in a cluster of lakes - the last remnants of the mythical Lake Teguayo. Fort Cass is named on the Yellowstone River. Established in 1832 by the American Fur Company to trade with the Crow, it was largely abandoned by the 1840s - true to form, it is identified here by a pound sign, suggesting a ruin. In Texas, Houston is named.

Further east, the National Road (see below) is illustrated, running from Alton, Illinois, to Cumberland, Maryland. In Florida, Cape Florida Settlement, the precursor of Miami, is identified.

Bradford's depiction of Texas

Even before the 1845 Texas Annexation, an ongoing border dispute had been simmering between the Republic of Texas and Mexico. Texas claimed all land north and east of the Rio Grande to the U.S. border, then the Arkansas River, while Mexico believed the border lay at the Nueces River, a difference of nearly 200 miles. On most American maps, this dispute is illustrated with Texas occupying all of the disputed territory, a larger area than is shaded here, including Santa Fe, and a panhandle extending into modern-day Wyoming. On Bradford's 1846 map of the United States, the border is illustrated significantly to the east of the Rio Grande (Rio del Norte), reflecting Mexico's c. 1814 New Mexico Territory. Bradford's choice of this border is curious, but it suggests that he supported this border as the final solution to the dispute, or maybe it was wishful thinking, hoping that a middle ground could be reached and war avoided.

54-40 or Fight! American Claims to British Columbia

Following the transcontinental crossing of North America by the British Northwest Company sponsored explorer Alexander MacKenzie (1792 - 1793), and the American expedition of Lewis and Clark up the Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia River (1804 - 1806), it became apparent that control of the fur- and resource-rich Pacific Northwest would bring great wealth and power to whoever could assert sovereignty. The American tycoon John Jacob Astor, with the permission of President Thomas Jefferson, was the first to attempt a permanent trading colony in the region, founding Astoria on the Columbia River in 1811. This led to a confrontation with the established British-Canadian Northwest Company over the valuable territory. Americans in the 1820s through the 1840s argued that most of the Pacific Northwest should be part of the United States as a legacy of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. England, on the other hand, argued for residual claims to the region derived from the MacKenzie Expedition and its fur trading empires: The Northwest Company and the Hudson Bay Company. The Oregon Dispute, as it came to be known, became a key geopolitical issue between the British Empire and the United States, especially after the War of 1812 (1812 - 1815). Americans adopted the slogan '54-40 or Fight!' until the Oregon Question was finally resolved roughly along the current border by the 1846 Oregon Treaty.

Manifest Destiny - Upper California

The United States first began making claims to Upper California (modern-day California) in the 1820s, though these claims were largely informal and based on expansionist aspirations rather than formal diplomatic actions. Formal U.S. ambitions became clearer in the 1840s, fueled by the concept of Manifest Destiny, the belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. In 1842, Commodore Thomas Catesby Jones, mistakenly believing war had broken out between the U.S. and Mexico, temporarily seized the port of Monterey but returned it upon realizing his error. By the mid-1840s, the U.S. was actively pursuing California, culminating in the annexation efforts during the Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848). The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo formally brought California under U.S. control.

The National Road

The National Road, often called the Cumberland Road, was the first federally funded highway in the United States and played a pivotal role in early American expansion and transportation. Authorized by Congress in 1806 during President Thomas Jefferson's administration, the road was designed to connect the Potomac River at Cumberland, Maryland, to the Ohio River, facilitating westward movement and trade. Construction began in 1811, and by the 1830s, the road extended through modern-day West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, reaching as far as Vandalia, Illinois. Built with a stone and gravel surface, it was a significant improvement over primitive dirt trails. It became a critical artery for settlers moving westward and commerce between the eastern states and the developing frontier. The road also spurred the growth of towns and businesses along its route. Construction ended when federal funding dried up due to the Panic of 1837 and the rise of railroads as the dominant long-distance transportation. Portions of the National Road were later incorporated into the U.S. Route 40 system, preserving its legacy as a vital part of America's early infrastructure.

Publication History and Census

This map was compiled by Thomas G. Bradford and S. G. Goodrich. Although not directly attributed, it was most likely engraved by George Washington Boynton and printed by H. W. Thayer's Lithographing, both of Boston. It was likewise published in Boston by Charles D. Strong in the 1846 edition of Bradford's Universal Illustrated Atlas. Both the map and atlas are represented institutionally but reasonably scarce to the market.