Maps

I love them. Maybe it’s the experience I had learning how to draw them, maybe it’s how I learned to research them, maybe it’s how I learned to use the information I gleaned from them, maybe it’s how I somehow learned to read them (and trust me, that’s a skill not everyone has). Whatever, I love them.

I’ve spent the last couple of days poring over Colorado maps from 1843 through 1894, tracking the John Fremont/Kit Carson expeditions in the 1840’s. Proved beyond any shadow of doubt that Fremont and Carson made camp on Chuck’s ranch on July 10, 1843. Fremont’s journal from 1843 was also a big help.

I love going back to old maps, back when they showed no roads but only rail routes. Yes, I own an 1883 Colorado map (actual 1883, not a reproduction) and an 1894 Colorado map. The latter showed 1,000 towns – 700 of which don’t exist anymore.

Visited an antique store before Christmas and found a 1974 Official Iowa DOT Map, complete with then Gov. Robert D. Ray’s photo, message and signature. It’s still there. Someone else will find it more appealing than I did.

The old maps are works of art. New maps are just computer generated. Does any new state map include an elevation graph of the route taken across an expedition and recorded very elegantly as the 1845 Fremont map that I’ve been studying so carefully lately?

For that matter, I can't say I've seen a modern map that even shows any rail lines.

Maps commissioned by Congress in the Lewis & Clark, Fremont, Seward etc. expeditions are a thing of beauty.

Now if I can only find out what happened to Durham, CO – once a rail stop which is now in western GJ.

Seems to exist only on an old map.