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Description

The Earliest Print Map of San Pedro Harbor

Eugene Duflot De Mofras' map of San Pedro is the earliest printed map of the harbor and one of the earliest obtainable regional maps of any part of Los Angeles County.

The map was created following De Mofras' visit in April 1841.

The map notes Point Fermin, Point San Pedro, Thomson's, the Road to Los Angeles and the Mission San Gabriel and a Rancho, along with an offshore island and soundings. Duflot de Mofras' Exploration Du Territoire De L'Oregon, Des Californies Et De La Mer Vermeille . . . is generally considered to be the best book on California prior to the American occupation. The book included an atlas of maps of the Pacific Coast. Wheat calls the large map a landmark... It made these western regions known in European official circles...his highly original map has much to commend it.

The atlas volume contains, in addition to the large map, plans of ports from Acapulco to the Aleutians, including San Pedro, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Francisco, and the mouth of the Columbia. Duflot de Mofras sailed from Mazatlan in April 1841, touching first on San Pedro, where the observations for this original work were made.

 

Eugene Duflot De Mofras Biography

Eugene Duflot de Mofras was a traveler, naturalist, diplomat, and spy. In 1839, du Mofras was appointed attaché to the French delegation to the Mexican government. While there, he was tasked with visiting the northern areas of Mexico; he was sent both as an official visitor but also as a veritable spy, gathering intelligence as to likely places to establish French trading posts. In 1844 he published an account of his travels, complete with an influential map of western North America.