Title: "Mirage on the Colorado Desert"

Cartographer/Artist:  Charles Koppel

Date and Place: 1853 (1856); Washington D.C.

Publisher: Beverly Tucker, Printer

Reference: Reports of Explorations and Surveys to ascertain the most practicable & Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean” Volume V (Williamson “Routes near the 35^th and 32d parallels of North Latitude)

Dimensions & Type: 6 x 9 on a 8 x 11 sheet; Tinted lithograph

Condition: VG+;  Very nice example

Description:

The area is in the vicinity of modern-day Yuma Arizona

The Pacific Railroad Surveys (1853–1855) consisted of a series of explorations of the American West to find possible routes for a transcontinental railroad. The expeditions included surveyors, scientists, and artists and resulted in an immense body of data covering at least 400,000 sq. miles on the American West. These volumes constitute probably the most important single contemporary source of knowledge on Western geography and history Their value is greatly enhanced by the inclusion of many beautiful plates in color of scenery, native inhabitants, fauna and flora of the Western country.

Besides the four main east-west routes for the transcontinental railroad, two supplemental surveys were sent out to explore the north-south routes in the far west. An expedition under Lieutenant R.S. Williamson was sent to survey a possible route between the 32nd and 35th parallels and its results are contained in Volumes V & VI.