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Description

Stuart's map of the California Gold Regions is one of the earliest and rarest of all California gold rush era maps. In addition, as one of the earliest published works on the region based upon first hand accounts, one of the earliest maps (published February 1, 1849), it was one of the earliest obtainable printed works relied upon by the gold seekers who set out in the Spring of 1849 to seek their fortunes in California.

Stuart's map extends form Monterey and the centeral San Joaquin Valley to the Prairie Butes, well north of Sacramento, providing one of the earliest detailed topographical accounts of San Francisco Bay and the California Gold Regions. In Mapping of the Transmississippi West, Carl Wheat notes that Stuart's map displays " graphically the great advances in geographical knowledge of the American West during less than a decade." The map was prepared to accompany Charles Wilkes' Western America, Including California and Oregon, with Maps of Those Regions, and of "The Sacramento Valley," published in Philadelphia in 1849. Eberstadt notes:

This is Wilkes' own narrative of the Oregon and California explorations and experiences in 1846. It contains much information regarding those countries and their situation which he could not with propriety dwell upon in his official reports 'before the territory became part of the public domain.

In Mapping of the California Gold Region, Carl Wheat identified the map as one of the earliest printed maps " on which the results of personal observation were delineated." In The California Gold Rush, Gary Kurutz notes :

Commander Wilkes compiled this work from data gathered while he was on the Pacific Coast commanding the United States Exploring Expedition from 1838 to 1842 [and his later visit in 1846]. He included a chapter on the gold region drawn from official reports and his knowledge of the area's geology and his own opinion of gold specimens sent east. The preface was dated February 1, 1849. The map of the Sacramento Valley was an important source of information for gold seekers.

The map shows Wilkes' route from San Francisco to north of Sacramento, showing many annotations regarding the natural resources and topography. Further east, several early mines are noted, as are other areas simply labeled Gold. The map is also interesting for its treatment of San Francisco Bay and vicinity, including soundings, topographical detail, Indian Villages, raods, missions, pueblos, etc.

Wheat observes that Wilkes' maps, though early 1849 in type, and requiring to be read in the light of what has been quoted, are enlightening now as then. In all, a highly important map and one unquestionably utilized by the earliest of the '49ers.

Condition Description
This example is backed with japan paper, with occasional minor loss at the fold interesections, with repaired fold splits and tears. Still, a presentable copy of this rarity.
Reference
Cowan I, p. 249. Cowan II, p. 683. Eberstadt 121:376. Graff 4656. Holliday 1195. Howell, California 50:256. Howes W416. Norris 4222. Plains & Rockies IV:175a:1. Rocq 16162. Sabin 103995. Streeter Sale 3326. Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 229. Wheat, Mapping the Transmississippi West 6
Charles Wilkes Biography

Charles Wilkes (1798-1877) was a skilled naval surveyor and the commander of the United States South Seas Exploration Expedition (U.S. Ex. Ex.), the largest scientific voyage ever mounted by the United States. Wilkes was born in New York City and began to sail in merchant vessels from 1815-1917.

Wilkes joined the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1818; by 1826, he had risen to the rank of lieutenant. Fascinated by hydrography, Wilkes studied triangulation and surveying with Ferdinand Hassler, the first superintendent of the United States Coast Survey. This expertise and initiative led him to be named Director of the Navy’s Depot of Charts and Instruments in 1833.

After being stalled by the Navy, U.S. Ex. Ex.—the U.S. response to the scientific voyages of Cook and La Perouse—was finally preparing to sail in the late 1830s. Wilkes was offered command, thanks to the heavy surveying focus on the voyage. He was given command of six vessels and nine scientists. However, the ships were not well supplied and the expedition was executed with some difficulty.

The ships left Norfolk in August 1838. They went in convoy to Tierra del Fuego, where they split and some explored in the South Seas and others in the South Atlantic. In late 1830, Wilkes surveyed portions of Antarctica that today are named for him (Wilkes Land). From spring 1840, the ships explored the mid- and North-Pacific. In June 1842, Wilkes returned to New York Harbor with only two of his six ships and a mountain of ethnographic, botanical, and natural historical specimens, as well as reams of observations, drawings, and charts.

Wilkes was met with a court martial; while he was acquitted of most charges, he was convicted of illegal punishment and reprimanded by the Secretary of the Navy. Despite this, he was promoted commander in 1843, captain in 1855, and commodore in 1862.

Wilkes spent much of his remaining career overseeing the publications of the expedition. The first official publication to appear was Wilkes’ rambling five-volume narrative of the voyage, accompanied by a folio atlas, in 1844. A further 19 volumes were prepared over the course of 30 years, each on a different scientific topic, although only 14 were ever distributed. Perhaps the most impressive legacies of the expedition were the almost 250 charts Wilkes prepared in two atlases (completed 1858, published 1861, but not distributed until after the Civil War). These formed the basis of the United States Hydrographic Office.

Wilkes served in the Union fleet in the Civil War. In 1864 he was before a court-martial again, this time for the publication of a private letter to the Secretary of the Navy. He was found guilty. He retired two years later, in 1866, and died in Washington D. C. in 1877.