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Description

Fine example of one of the earliest detailed mapping of the Colorado River, after the Mexican War.

Important early survey map of the region from Fort Defiance and the Gila River, to the Gulf of California, identifying nearly 20 different landings, Indian villages, points, etc. The Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo that ended the war with Mexico gave the United States navigation rights in the Gulf of California and up the Colorado River. Lt. George H. Derby was assigned the task to explore the mouth of the river and determine the navigability as far north as Camp Yuma.

Located at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers, Yuma was a crossroads of the Southwest and Derby's map served to focus attention on the area just as the Gold Rush made this one of the prime routes to California. The map locates Indian villages, landings, and conditions along the winding course of the river.

A historically significant map that delineates the Colorado River from its confluence with the Gila River to its mouth in the Gulf of California. Wheat describes this map as interesting and useful and notes that it was the basis for cartography of that area until the Ives maps appeared a decade later in 1860.