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A large-format reconnaissance chart of Oregon’s central coast, extending from the Umpqua River northward to Cape Lookout. Issued by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey under Superintendent T.C. Mendenhall, this 1913 edition compiles over half a century of survey data gathered between 1852 and 1909 by Coast Survey and Navy parties.
The map presents a continuous strip of coastline rendered with precise hydrographic soundings and topographic features. Depths are recorded in fathoms and carefully laid out across the nearshore continental shelf. Two compass roses provide bearings for navigation, and bottom characteristics are noted throughout the soundings field. The shoreline is finely delineated with sand dunes, cliffs, estuaries, and headlands, while inland elevations are conveyed through sparse but confident contours and spot heights.
Prominent features include Cape Arago, Heceta Head, Cape Perpetua, Yaquina Head, and Cape Foulweather, each labeled and positioned in relation to the coastal grid. River mouths such as the Umpqua, Siuslaw, Alsea, and Siletz are traced several miles inland, with associated towns and topographic features marked in minimal but legible detail. Harbor and bar conditions are noted at key river entrances, though the map is explicitly labeled “Not intended for inside navigation.”
This chart embodies the survey's transitional period: technical in purpose, restrained in style, and anchored in field data accumulated over decades. While visually understated, it represents a carefully constructed framework for mariners operating along one of the most remote and surf-battered coastlines in the contiguous United States.
![Map of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and part of Montana [Early appearance of Montana]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/113193.jpg)