Map
Clark’s Map of the American West (1810)
William Clark's manuscript map of the American West, compiled from his expedition observations and published with the 1814 Biddle edition, was the most accurate and comprehensive map of the western United States for decades. It depicted the Missouri River system, the Rocky Mountains, the Columbia River drainage, and the Pacific coast with unprecedented accuracy.
Clark drew maps throughout the expedition, eventually compiling them into a master manuscript map that depicted the entire route from St. Louis to the Pacific. Published as an engraved version by Samuel Lewis in the 1814 Biddle edition, the map remained the primary cartographic reference for the American West until the railroad surveys of the 1850s. Clark’s maps were remarkably accurate given the instruments available, though they compressed the width of the Rocky Mountains.
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