This basic map covers the lower Red River and demonstrates the "Great Raft" that reached its peak in the 1830s. The Great Raft was a huge log jam that covered approximately 150 miles and resulted in high water levels in the river and created new lakes and bayous. Steamboat builder and head of the Western River Improvements for the Corps of Engineers, Captain Henry Miller Shreve, began systematically removing these obstacles, but the process would not be completed until the latter part of the century. Shreveport, Louisiana is named in his honor. This map was submitted with his first report on the project.

References: Phillips (Maps) p. 741.

Condition: B+

Issued folding with a few faint spots of foxing and light toning along the top edge of the sheet.