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A Large Scale Manuscript Map of one of the Most Important Areas in the Minnesota Territory. By "probably the first man who settled and opened up a farm in Winona county."

Superb ink and watercolor manuscript map on drafting linen, completed by or for William Davidson, Winona County Commissioner, in circa 1857.

The map covers Winona County, west of the Mississippi River, from roughly present-day La Crosse, Wisconsin, north to Minneiska. Many of the towns illustrated either no longer exist or never existed.

The map appears to incorporate information from the GLO surveys of 1854, compiled into a view of the county as a whole, and with additional labeling not found in the survey manuscripts.  Most importantly the map names and delineates many Territorial Roads.

Winona, Minnesota Territory

For much of its early history, Winona was one of the three largest and most important cities in what would become Minnesota (after St. Paul and St. Anthony-Minneapolis). 

From Wikipedia:

Winona was settled by non-Native Americans in 1851, and the town was laid out into lots in 1852-3 with growth expanding rapidly over the years. The original settlers were old stock Yankee immigrants from New England. The population increased from 815 in December, 1855, to 3,000 in December, 1856. In 1856 German immigrants arrived as well. The Germans and the Yankees worked together planting trees and building businesses based on lumber, wheat, steamboating and railroads. Together, they were so successful that for a time Winona had more millionaires than any other city of its size in the United States. In 1860 Winona had a population of 2,456, and was third largest city in Minnesota until the late 1880s. Part of the surge in population in 1856 was the fact that land claims became legal in 1855 with the completion of land surveys and the opening of a local federal land office. It was incorporated as a city in 1857.

William Davidson

William Davidson (born October 21, 1810, Meiselburg, Scotland) was a prominent early settler in the Minnesota Territory. The 1883 History of Winona County provides an extensive biography, with the following relevant passages:

 In 1848 Mr. Davidson removed to Clayton county, Iowa, and engaged in farming. Early in the spring of 1853 he set off up the Mississippi on a prospecting tour, and landed on Wabasha prairie, now the site of Winona, on April 6. Setting out on foot with a compass for companion, by the 10th he had selected his location on Sec. 10, in this township, and removed his family here the following June. He was prominent in the organization of the county, and was one of its board of commissioners from 1855 to 1857; was one of the delegates to the convention which nominated Gov. Ramsay. The first road in the county led westward from Winona, past Mr. Davidson's place, and was called the Davidson road, and many a tired and hungry prospector had reason to be grateful for "Mother" Davidson's hospitality. The first election in the county was held at Mr. Davidson's house in 1851. At this election but one democratic vote was cast; George Thorn walked twelve miles to deposit that. Mr. Davidson was one of the original republicans, having formerly adhered to the whig party. 

Provenance:

William Davidson (b. 1810), thence by descent in his family until we acquired it in 2019.