Titled "Map of Bear River Showing the Flooded Lands adjacent thereto" and issued by the State Engineer's Department, California, the sheet accompanied the report of January 10, 1881 and is signed in the plate by G. H. Mendell, Lt. Col., Corps of Engineers. 

It was printed as a folding plate in House Executive Document No. 76, 3rd Session, 46th Congress.

Drawn to a scale of 6,000 feet to the inch, the long strip map follows the river across its township-and-range grid, keyed to a legend for levees, section lines, roads, and shading representing mining detritus. 

It marks the high-water mark of 1879, numerous named farms and residences along the bottomlands, a rail line crossing the valley, and the historic army post site Camp Far West.

This map belongs to one of the defining chapters of California history: the long fight over hydraulic mining debris that buried Sacramento Valley farmland and choked the rivers, which culminated in the landmark 1884 Sawyer Decision restricting the practice. 

Its author, George H. Mendell of the Army Corps of Engineers, produced a series of reports on protecting California's navigable waters from mining debris and later served as president of the federal California Debris Commission. 

A scarce and historically significant piece for collectors of California, Gold Rush, mining, and Sacramento Valley history.

Condition: Please review the photos, which form part of the description. The printed map itself is clean and bright. As a folding plate removed from the bound document, the left (binding) edge is torn and chipped with old tape and paper residue, and there is light overall toning along the folds. A good, displayable example with the noted binding-edge damage. Approx. sheet size 21.3" x 8.6".