Fremont's Map of California from 1848

Captain John Charles Frémont (1813-1890)
Charles Preuss, cartographer
Map of Oregon and Upper California from the Surveys of Charles Fremont And other Authorities
Baltimore: E. Weber and Co., 1848
Lithograph with outline color
44 ½" x 37 ½" framed

Detail of area of Northern California including the San Francisco Bay area, the Sierras and Lake Tahoe, and the Gold Mining region

This attractive large-scale map of California and Oregon, which shows the results of Captain Frémont’s difficult third expedition, became a model for many later gold region maps, and was by far the most accurate map of the far west at its time of publication. Depicted are some timely updates from 1848, such as the official establishment of the Oregon Territory, and the clearly delineated boundary with Mexico as stated in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

John C. Frémont was born in Savannah, Georgia on January 21, 1813. He briefly taught mathematics to U.S. naval cadets before launching his legendary career as an American explorer. As an assistant surveyor in 1838, Frémont joined the U.S. Topographical Corps and helped map the country between the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Two years later, Frémont eloped with Jessie Benton, daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton, the driving force behind the “Manifest Destiny” movement. After accepting the secret marriage, Senator Benton helped his son-in-law secure command in 1841 of an expedition to survey the Des Moines River in present-day Iowa.

Between 1842 and 1844, Frémont led two expeditions to the Rocky Mountains and to the Nevada, California, and Oregon territories with the help of legendary fur trapper and master guide Kit Carson. Frémont’s journals provide incredible, vivid details of these expeditions. During his expeditions in the Sierra Nevada, it is generally acknowledged that Frémont became the first European American to view Lake Tahoe. His reports generated great interest in the West and western settlement.

Frémont met with some difficulty on his third expedition west in 1845-1846. At this time, California was held by Mexico, and war between the United States and Mexico was imminent - but had not yet been declared. En route to Oregon, Frémont heard of the approaching war with Mexico, and joined the Bear Flag Rebellion against Mexico under the command of Robert F. Stockton. As a result of his actions in the rebellion, Frémont was court-martialed and resigned from the army. Frémont later led a fourth expedition to the west in 1848, and was one of the first senators from California (1850-51). He later was the first presidential candidate of the new Republican Party in 1856, losing to James Buchanan (and not carrying the state of California), fought in the Civil War, and was the governor of the Arizona Territory.

For more information about this historically important map, please contact Arader Galleries at 415.788.5115.

A Maps Lecture by Margaret Pritchard

Thomas Conder, Map of the Interior Travels Through America
London, c. 1789

Margaret Pritchard made the journey from Williamsburg, VA to deliver an incredibly insightful presentation and lecture for The American Decorative Arts Forum at San Francisco’s De Young Museum. The Arader Galleries San Francisco team was in attendance and hosted Margaret for a private reception in the San Francisco Gallery. Margaret received a bachelor’s degree from Hollins College. After working with Winterthur’s needlework collection for a year, she received a fellowship at Colonial Williamsburg to assist with the refurnishing of the Governor’s Palace.Margaret subsequently became the curator of Colonial Williamsburg’s collections of prints, maps and wallpaper. Her responsibilities include acquisition of new objects for the collections and research in the medium of paper. She selects appropriate prints, maps, and wallpaper to hang on the walls of buildings in the historic district, such as the Brush-Everard House, the George Wythe House and the recently recreated Richard Charlton Coffeehouse. Margaret Prichard’s publications include William Byrd II and His Lost History: Engravings of the Americaswith Virginia Sites (1993); Empire’s Nature: Mark Catesby’s New World Vision with Amy Meyers (1998); andDegrees of Latitude: Mapping Colonial America with Henry Taliaferro (2002). She combined her study of geography with living nature for “A Protracted View: The Relationship between Mapmakers and Naturalists in Recording the Land,” her contribution to Curious in our Way: The Culture of Nature in Philadelphia, 1740-1840 (2009).

Margaret’s lecture focused on maps in the 17th and 18th centuries and their importance for documenting new discoveries and promoting settlement in the New World. These documents — created by empirical observation and scientific equipment — authoritatively documented claims of boundaries between colonies and empires. Land titles and rents, and trade — aided by nautical atlases, hung in the balance. As the struggle between France and Britain for control of North America intensified in the 18th century, the need for reliable maps for military use also increased.

Maps also embodied intellectual attainment and social aspiration. Prominently displayed maps, charts, atlases and globes became status symbols for the enlightened, genteel 18th century gentleman whose library might well have included works on commerce, navigation, geography, mathematics, physics, natural history and travel. Maps were ordinarily displayed in the hall (not today’s passageway but the name for the primary room for welcoming guests to the home) or dining room, literally and figuratively demonstrating the host’s expanded world view to guests.

Margaret explained the role of maps as powerful visual symbols during the 17th and 18th centuries. They were useful devices for mapmakers and colonial expansionists to convey a host of attitudes and values. She dissected the meaning behind many of the elements in the maps’ cartouches, adding engaging insight into these stunning antique maps. Examples of many of the maps discussed can be found in the Arader Galleries collection. See our section on Maps on the home page of our website (www.aradersf.com).

A Highly Important Map of the United States

A highly educated merchant from Scotland, John Melish first visited America on business in 1806. He returned in 1811 to settle in Philadelphia and continue his successful business of commercial cartography where he quickly became one of America’s greatest mapmakers. Until the publication of this grand map of the United States, the growing body of geographical knowledge about America was assimilated primarily on military maps and British commercial maps, none of which had ever encompassed the entirety of U.S. Territory.

With American nationalism strengthening after the War of 1812, a friend mentioned to Melish that he would like to see a map that would condense one grand view of the whole of U.S. Territory. Recognizing the seemingly endless demand for geographical information on the American West, Melish produced his six-sheet map with the help of Philadelphia engravers John Vallance and Henry S. Tanner, which would later be known as his finest achievement. He drew on published eastern state maps and west coast surveys and city studies to create this mammoth sized map which is the first map to show the U.S. Territory stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Little was know about the West, and this map seemed to embody the burgeoning notion of Manifest Destiny.

Although quite beautiful and magnificent to behold, this map functioned as a key in treaties and border disputes between the United States and Mexico in later years. It also improved knowledge of the American West and Texas, and thus promoted settlement in these areas by Anglo-Americans where opportunities for self-advancement and freedom seemed possible.

This map is currently on view at our Jackson Square location at 435 Jackson Street, San Francisco. Please contact us if you have any additional questions about this important map.

W. Graham Arader on the Today Show!

Click the link below to watch W. Graham Arader discuss the 5 most historically important maps of the United States, as seen on The Today Show on Tuesday, December 5th:

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&brand=msnbc&vid=285d2682-f26f-4e4a-9b0a-acd3262a3f22