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Description

An Early Appearance of Wyoming Territory

Rare intermediate state of Mitchell's map of the United States, the first map to include the territory of Wyoming,  3 years before it's official creation, based upon a failed 1865 congressional act. 

The map covers the United States from coast to coast and includes parts of adjacent Canada, British America, and Mexico. An inset in the lower right details Newfoundland.

Failed James M. Ashley 1865 Bill to Create Wyoming Territory

In January of 1865,  James M. Ashley of Ohio introduced a bill to to create a provisional Wyoming territory.  In the bill, Wyoming extended eastward as far as the 25th meridian from Washington, to include the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Nebraska Panhandle, but omitted other lands in Idaho and Utah that were ultimately incorporated into the map. The bill died in committee.  'Wyoming Territory' was reintroduced as 'Lincoln' in bills dating to 1866 and 1867 and finally organized into a Territory in 1868.

Samuel Augustus Mitchell Jr. Biography

Samuel Augustus Mitchell Jr. inherited the Mitchell Company from his father in 1860. For over thirty years, the company had specialized in the production of school atlases and wall maps of America. They were one of the pioneers on engraving on steel plates. In 1860, Samuel Jr. released the New General Atlas, which had been compiled in house and replaced a previous atlas by Tanner. The elder Mitchell died in 1868 and Samuel Jr. continued the business until the 1890s. At its height, the Mitchell Company employed 250 people and sold 400,000 publications annually.