Map of Louisiana; Antique Map by John Melish, 1820

John Melish (June 13, 1771 - December 30, 1822) was a Scottish mapmaker who published some of the earliest maps of the United States. In 1816 he created the first map of the United States extending to the Pacific Ocean. Melish started his own map publishing company in Philadelphia. It was the first of its kind in the United States. His maps were inspired by his travels and fulfilled a contemporary need for accurate cartography. US President Thomas Jefferson took note of Melish's maps, sending copies to associates in Europe. In 1816, Melish published an important map, Map of the United States with the contiguous British and Spanish Possessions, which depicted the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, thus implicitly staking a larger claim for the US than existed at that time. Melish's books detailing the state of American manufacturing influenced Jefferson to adopt a point of view favoring manufacturing in the US, as opposed to shipping raw good to Europe for manufacturing into finished products.