<p>An excellent copy of a very desirable antique map showing the course of the Colorado River. The map was issued in 1858 as part of the of the Ives expedition's Report upon the Colorado River. The expedition was tasked with determining the navigability of the lower Colorado and exploring points east. Ives's expedition started at the mouth of the Colorado River, where the small steamboat Explorer was reassembled after having been shipped by boat and rail from New York through the Isthmus of Panama, and in three months traveled as far as the Black Canyon, where the ship had to be abandoned.</p>
<p>This early map, which covers a span over 1000 miles in width, covers the Colorado River from its estuary in the Sea of Cortez to a place East of Ft. Defiance (in Arizona, near the New Mexico border, though the entire region was in NM then), and includes the entirety of the Grand Canyon (Big Canyon) of the Colorado. the map was made using a novel technique develoed and patented by Eggloffstein that allowed for printing a continuous tone map, rather than the hachure-style maps that were common at the time. Many landmarks are identified: Fort Defiance, Campbell's Pass, Zuni, Moquis (Hopi) Pueblos, San Francisco Springs (today Flagstaff), Las Vegas, the Mormon Road, many Indian tribes, and several exploration routes and trails, such as The Old Spanish Trail, Whipple's trail and Beale's trail.</p>