Western Surverys

Reports of Surveys of Western America

William H. Emory. Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, Made Under The Direction of the Secretary of the Interior. Two volumes in three. Washington: 1859. Large quarto. Modern cloth. Many plates, maps, and charts. Light tide-mark to first 5 pages of volume 1 , including first plate and title, and intermittently within. Scattered spotting, transferring, and foxing throughout both volumes. Volume 1 includes folding map: "Map of the United States and their Territories Between the Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean and Part of Mexico." Thomas Jekyll, 1857-8. 20 x 22 3/4. 4" tear at top left margin; faint line across map, 3" from bottom ; some light transferring. Else, very good. Basic Texas Books: 57; Howes: E-146.

A landmark work on the exploration of the American west. With the discovery of gold in California in 1849, the need for a transcontinental railroad route across the country became very apparent. With tensions growing between the North and South, Southerners lobbied for a route that passed through the South. The border with Mexico first established at the end of the Mexican-American War ran along the Gila River and unfortunately the only feasible southern route for a railroad ran through Mexico. This prompted renewed negotiations, resulting in the Gadsden Purchase, acquiring for the United States enough land to run the railroad line. William H. Emory, a topographical engineer who had previously done surveying in the southwest was appointed to survey the new border. This is the report that resulted from his survey, and it includes not only the geographic information and maps required, but much other information on the natural history and physical character of these newly acquired lands. The first volume contains Emory's account of the exploration and a general description of the country; the second volume (in two books) describes the botany and zoology of the region. 10,000 copies of the first volume were issued, but Congress was very upset with the cost, so only 3,000 of the second volume were issued. The plates are images of scenery, Native Americans, and the natural history subjects, including some fine hand colored prints of "Birds of the Boundary." The map, which encompasses the entire trans-Mississippi west, is on its own of great interest. It is one of the best maps of the region done to the time. The natural history plates in these volumes are superb and important. $4,200

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