Johnson’s maps of the American Southwest occupy a temporal crossroads in the cartographic history of the United States after California statehood, before the adjacent territories formalized their boundaries, and before the transcontinental railroad was completed. The many different states of this map show dramatic and rapid changes. Besides the transitional territorial boundaries, the maps are of interest for the depiction of Pony Express routes, wagon trails, military expedition routes, the locations of gold and silver mines, Indian tribes, and much more relating to the geography and history of the region.

The primarily Texan immigrants in the southern part of New Mexico sought to form a separate territory as early as 1856. But it wasn’t until the organization of the Confederate Territory of Arizona that serious consideration was given to the territory in Congress in 1863. The formation of the territory with a north-south border at the 109th meridian rather than an east-west one had the effect of splitting the Confederate support and securing the region where gold had been recently discovered in the Bradshaw Mountains.

This is the early 1864 edition in this series of maps. Arizona still has the county configurations of the old New Mexico Territory, with the addition of Castle Dome and Ewell counties in the south. The Utah/Nevada border is now at 115°. This is a completely new plate with many changes in watersheds and mountain detail with several of the earlier notations removed.

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Condition: B+

Full contemporary color with light foxing. There is a single small rust hole just above the publisher's imprint.