Course of the River Mississipi, from the Balise to Fort Chartres; Taken on an Expedition to the Illinois, in the latter end of the Year 1765.

1775 Sayer and Ross Map of the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico to Fort Chartres

Publication Date: 1775

About this Item

Very good, near fine. Several panels joined by publisher. Wide margins. Platemark visible. Size 45 x 14.5 Inches. A scarce, important, and dramatic map of the Mississippi River Valley from the Gulf of Mexico to Fort Chartres (Illinois). This was the best map of the Mississippi to appear before the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783) and remained significant even after the war when it was the best demarkation of the western boundary of the United States. Most Important Map of the Mississippi Compiled by Lieut. John Ross of the 34th Foot Regiment, this map was commissioned immediately following the British acquisition of this territory at the end of the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763). Ross, who was trained as a field surveyor, was commanded to ascend the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico to Fort Chartres, the last French holdout in North America, where he was to accept the surrender of Commandant Louis Groston de Saint-Ange et de Bellerive. Along the way, he made detailed reconnaissance and surveys, which Sayer used to update and revise the cartography of Jean Baptiste D'Anville. Sayer published this work in his American Atlas , considered the most authoritative and comprehensive mappings of North America to date. His timing could not have been better, for a few years later, with the contemporaneous 1775 outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, both sides of the conflict relied on Sayer's large detailed map to formulate strategies. After the war, it took on even greater importance as it was the best available map of the western boundary of the newly formed United States. A Closer Look Set on the meridian of New Orleans, this map covers the Mississippi Valley from the Gulf of Mexico to Fort Chartres, located in present-day Illinois, just south of St. Louis, Missouri. The map also includes superb detail of the lands to the immediate east of the Mississippi, including numerous tributary rivers: the Pearl River, the Yasous River (Yazoo River), the Chickasaw River, and the Ohio River, among others. Also noted are various American Indian villages, old and abandoned fortifications, trading posts, mineral deposits, and other resources. Topography is rendered in profile. The map offers exceptional detail throughout, though it is most exhaustive in the lower reaches and to the East of the Mississippi. The site where Ferdinand de Soto discovered the Mississippi is marked near the center of the map. It is noteworthy that detail is richest east of the Mississippi - a fact that can be understood in the political context as Ross was not allowed to do any mapping in Spanish Louisiana (west of the Mississippi). The cartographer does identify three mysterious mountain ranges: the Natchez Mountains, the Yazous Mountains, and the Chickasaws Mountains. These are likely early attempts to address the Great Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Updates over the 1772 edition include the addition of Fort St. Leon and St. Mary and significant updates to the territory immediately surrounding New Orleans. American Indian Tribes identified include the Flathead, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Chackhuma, 'Akansas or the Handsome Men,' Wiapes, Corrois, Yazoo, Ofogoulas, Chepoussea, Caskaskias, Colapissas (later known as Huoma), and others. He sometimes includes the number of warriors living in individual villages. Frederick Webb Hodge consulted this map extensively in constructing his exhaustive Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico . Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres also consulted this map for his own map of the Mississippi. Publication History and Census The present example represents Stevens and Tree state 'b.' This map was published in three states over multiple editions in several different atlases from 1772 to 1794. The Library of Congress holds examples from Thomas Jefferys' American Atlas as well as from Thomas Kitchin's General Atlas . References: Rumsey 0411.044. Phillips (Atlases) 4300. Smith, T. R., Maps of the 16th to 19th cen.

Seller Inventory # CourseoftheRiverMississipi-sayer-1775-2

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Course of the River Mississipi, from the Balise to Fort Chartres; Taken on an Expedition to the Illinois, in the latter end of the Year 1765.
• Publication Date: 1775
• Seller catalogs:
  • ARKANSAS-LOUISIANA-MISSISSIPPI