During the 1850s, the U.S. government sponsored an extensive series of expeditions designed to gather information on the vast new territories that had been acquired in western North America. The discovery of gold in California further stimulated westward traffic and heightened the need for a faster and more convenient way to bring the far-flung parts of the country together. In 1853 Congress commissioned the Army's Topographic Bureau to conduct a series of surveys to find a suitable route for a transcontinental railroad. There were six major expeditions; five of them covered the area between the Great Plains and west coast, and the sixth explored the coastal states of California and Oregon. All of these expeditions were accompanied by naturalists and artists to document the landscape, flora and fauna along the route. The reports, maps and lithographs were published in the 13 volume report "Explorations and Surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a Railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific Ocean."

This intricately-engraved pair of railroad survey maps is filled with topographical detail including fine hachure. Wheat calls the first "one of the best maps" drawn by F.W. Egloffstein on these surveys, which were led by Captain Edward Griffin Beckwith. It shows the area of present-day Nevada from Pyramid Lake, which is passed to the north by the proposed railroad route, to the West Humboldt Range. An area to the north is noted as Unexplored. Wheat considers the second map excellent "due in large part to Egloffstein's work as Topographer for the Route." This map covers from the Sacramento River to Pyramid Lake in good detail while the western portions are in skeletal form. It delineates both the proposed railroad route and the one to the south surveyed in 1854. Mount Shasta, Red Bluffs, Marysville, Auburn, and the Head of Navigation on the Sacramento River are all identified. In the Gold Region the map locates Nevada, Coloma, Placerville and Auburn. Size varies slightly.

References: Wheat (TMW) #824 & #825.

Condition: B+

Both maps are crisp impressions issued folding with light toning along the folds, minor scattered foxing, and a few small fold separations, most of which have been closed on verso with archival tape.