The Map that Claimed the West

In 1816 mapmaker John Melish drew the first coast to coast map of the United States.

Map courtesy of the Map & Atlas Museum of La Jolla

By extending this map all the way to the Pacific, he implicitly laid claim to these lands for the United States. At the time there were competing claims in the west between the United States, Great Britain and Spain. In his own words "part of this territory unquestionably belongs to the United States." Map it and it is yours. The power of the map's claim was such that it was used in future treaty negotiations between the United States and the European powers.

I had a chance to look at and photograph this map up close at the Map & Atlas Museum of La Jolla.

Melish had the benefit of information from Lewis and Clark's recent expedition to fill in many details. Here rivers with fancy names like Philosophy (Willow Creek) and Philanthropy (Ruby River) make their way to the Jefferson and eventually Missouri Rivers.

Photo taken at the Map &Atlas Museum of La Jolla

Sometimes the details are a bit exaggerated.

Photo taken at the Map & Atlas Museum of La Jolla

Here are some very detailed annotations along the Illinois-Iowa (Missouri Territory at the time) section of the Mississippi River.

Photo taken at the Map & Atlas Museum of La Jolla

In addition to the map's historical significance there are various other cartographic curiosities such as the incorrectly angled Lake Michigan, missing Illinois completely and putting Michigan on a diet.

Chicago's there, just in the wrong state.

Here is another curiosity

A theorized link to San Francisco Bay via the Rio Buenaventura (Green River in Utah) - here is a zoomed out look.

The entire map can be browsed at World Digital Library

Look North

Going through my recently acquired road maps, I was intrigued by the many different north arrows. Many are gas stations maps-the work contracted out to map publishing companies such as Rand McNally and H.M. Gousha. Oil companies put their names on the map and often their logo on the north arrow.

Here's an example from the Gulf "Richmond Tourgide" - their cutesy misspelling, not mine. Rand McNally produced this map. Here are some more:

Flying A Service Metro D.C. Street Map- Gousha.

Cities Service - I don't know who they were and it was hard to get a clear picture of their logo. This is from their Maine map (Bangor inset). You can see the H. M. G. Co. (Gousha) text.

Before Arco, there was Atlantic - From a Tampa-St Petersburg map-Rand McNally










American - Greater Miami Street Map and Mobil Travel Map of the San Fernando Valley, California - Rand McNally

Two Gousha's - one from the Hertz/American Express Chicago map and one from their own branded New Orleans city map.

AAA's maps used this globe north arrow. They liked to put them in the water.









Here is one from Rand McNally's Los Angeles map. It appears on the LAX airport inset. This map looks very different stylistically from the rest of the map and the Thomas Brothers north arrow explains why.

The other sections of the map all have this dull, understated e.e. cummings- style "n"










Some state tourist agencies.

Maryland - I don't love Maryland's schizophrenic flag, but I like how they incorporated it into their north arrow.

Virginia - very detailed.

Montana-now that's a quality north arrow!





















Best of all - South Dakota with its compass ring showing where the needle would point at the center of the state. Two rings, one for true distance and one for magnetic variation, plus the state seal!

 Here are some more

Where to See the Best Eclipse Maps

It's not about where to go to see the upcoming eclipse (August 21st, 2017) -it's where do you see the best maps that interests me. The Great American Eclipse site is a good starting point. They feature very detailed maps showing how much time the total eclipse will last.

Above is the area around Columbia, South Carolina where some friends of mine (and possibly me but that is unlikely at this point) are gathering. I'm not sure why they want to drive 30 miles to get an additional 10 seconds of eclipse time but maybe it's better watching it over Lake Murray. Hopefully they get a sunny day-chances are much better of that in Nebraska or Wyoming.

This site features maps of the nation, for each state, drive time maps, videos of the path, lots of highly detailed maps like above and statistics. You can also buy "Occupy Totality" T-shirts. I like their logo too.

Here is a simple nationwide map from the South Carolina State Museum via the Columbia Total Eclipse Weekend site.

The Washington Post has a great page where you can scroll down and follow the eclipse's path. Here are two screen shots of Oregon.

 Also Carhenge, because Carhenge is awesome.

Teams of students under the Eclipse Ballooning Project will be sending up high altitude balloons with cameras across the country to live stream the event. You will be able to watch here.

Rexburg online (Idaho) has a nice simple state map.

You can see where future eclipses will be from Scientific American. Their interactive graphic works nicely for small countries...

...but gets unwieldy for larger ones.

There are probably many other good graphics. You can look up at the sky or look online for more maps. If you are in the USA and you miss this one, there will be another one in seven years. Click the picture for more details.

The Central Montana Pie Trail

From Twitter:

Mappamonday: The Central Montana Pie Trail https://t.co/ZugGn39cBK pic.twitter.com/gpAIuhkZsH

— Map of the Week (@MapOfTheWeek) June 27, 2016

Google's 8-bit Maps

Google released an 8-bit map "upgrade" this past weekend as an April Fool's joke. This upgrade was done to support the Nintendo Entertainment System as explained in the Google LatLong blog - the video at this link is pretty funny.

Here are some examples of our 8-bit fantasy-like world:

The lower Great Lakes with the important places like Aurora and West Virginia emphasized.

Westminster, London - zoom in to get cute building icons.

The pixellated coast of New Orleans

 

Yellowstone and vicinity

Sydney.

  

 Occasionally you will come across a game character like this guy near Scranton. If I was more into gaming I might know who this is.

Here's the googleplex area with its dinosaur and flamingoes. There's probably a joke or two here for those in the know.

If you zoom all the way to street view, the images are posterized for your fantasy viewing pleasure:

Click here to explore the 8 bit world.

Random Thursday-Maps You Probably Won't Use Today

Have I mentioned that I don't really care for google (or bing or yahoo) maps? Sure they serve certain purposes very well and I even use them at work when they fit the bill. However, when directing me to your business I prefer a customized map. Here are some examples.

A map to the Kipu Ranch on Kauai where you can enjoy scenic beauty by ramming through it on an ATV.

Directions to Camp del Oro in Nevada City, California. You will probably get lost.

Raffles, an Asian restaurant in Nagoya, Japan. An Asian restaurant in Japan? What an idea!

The Book Loft of German Village - Columbus, Ohio. Absolutely not to scale but emphasizing the important details - and you can't do that in google!

Pasquia Regional Park in Saskatchewan- looks like it was drawn by a kid with cartographic skills.

A very red map of the locations of the Big R Stores in the Northwestern US. I love how the topography ends at the Idaho border!

Here's a map to The Strand - a development in Datarang Sunway, Malaysia. I got the image from Three Meals of Goodness, a Malaysian dining blog. I like the exaggerated earth curvature, and the Ikea.