United States, Colton's Map; 1849; Handsome Antique Map

Museum-grade, archival reproduction of an exceptionally beautiful map of considerable historic importance, J. H. Colton's first edition 1849 map of the United States on the cusp of the California Gold Rush. Colton depicts the borders of the United States as consolidated under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed at the end of the Mexican American War. The United States stretches from coast to coast with the Mexican Cession of Upper California or New California noted. Texas is rendered at its fullest extent as a state with its 1845 - 1849 borders, including the stovepipe northern panhandle. Alternative Texas borders and claims within the new state are also noted. Nebraska too is illustrated at its fullest extent reaching northwards as far as the Canadian border. Cartography in California remains primitive but the Gold Region on the Sacramento River around the town of New Helvetia, the original name of John Sutter's settlement, are noted.Possibly this map's most interesting feature is its thorough presentation of Texas - a topic no doubt much on the minds of Colton's educated American clientele. The map not only illustrates the borders under which Texas joined the Union in 1845, but also various alternative and conflicting borders actively debated during the Mexican American War until their ultimate resolution in the Compromise of 1850. These include highlights in blue showing Mexican claims as far northeast as the Nunces River - a major catalyst of the Mexican American War.