Rare Maps from High Ridge Books

Item 47 offers a very early, though not terrible accurate look at northern Utah and western Colorado long before they were known as such. Taken from the Vandermaelen atlas of 1831, printed in Brussels, Amer. Sep. Partie du Mexique, this map depicts a portion of the American Southwest when it was still part of Mexico. There is Lake Timpanogos, which in these days could have been Great Salt Lake or Utah Lake or some combination thereof. Another large lake to the west may be Sevier Lake, a body of water that frequently runs dry. Perhaps it was wetter then. Various rivers crossing the area are harder to match up with current knowledge though there was likely some correlation. This area had seen little Western penetration at this time save for a few Spanish/Mexican explorers and American trappers, so Vandermaelen can be excused for his limited knowledge of and errors in depicting this mostly uncharted territory. $375.

The aforementioned lands show up in the 1860 Johnson & Browning New Illustrated & Embellished... Map of the Republic. They are displayed in names not that familiar to us now – the State of Jefferson and Shoshone Territory. Things change. This land having come to the U.S. After the Mexican War, western Kansas was about to become a state. However, it ended up adopting the name “Colorado” instead of “Jefferson.” And, Shoshone Territory, like so much other Indian territory, was taken from the Shoshones and now can be found as parts of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada. Item 149. $5,750.

Item 224 is not a map, but it highlights the services of the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. It promotes their transportation services to the 1883 annual encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic. “Shouting the Battle Cry” it notes with patriotic fervor. The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal order of Union veterans of the Civil War. It was once extremely influential, boasting that five American Presidents arose from its membership. It supported Civil War veterans concerns and other patriotic causes, including establishing the holiday now celebrated as Memorial Day. While its membership roles in the South were somewhat limited by circumstances, it at one time had almost half a million members. However, the GAR would only ever admit Union Civil War veterans to its membership, and you can see the problem there. As membership dwindled, first slowly, then with a rush, the inevitable became the obvious. Their final encampment was held in 1949, a few aged soldiers getting together one last time, and their last member died in 1956 at age 109 (maybe). Their assets were left to an organization of descendants of Civil War veterans that exists to this day with around 6,000 members. $3,500.

High Ridge Books may be contacted at 914-967-3332 or info@highridgebooks.com. Their website is www.highridgebooks.com.