1859 - Map of the United States west of the Mississippi showing the routes to Pike\u27s Peak, overland mail route to California and Pacific rail road surveys. To which are added the new state & territorial boundaries, the principal mail & rail road routes with all the arrangements & corrections made by Congress up to the date of its issue.

The 1859 map based on a previously produced Pacific railroad 1957 survey map depicted the United States west of the Mississippi reflecting new State and Territorial boundaries and the principal mail and railroad routes. The U.S. Congress authorized the army topographical service to undertake the engineering surveys and general assessments of five possible railroad routes from: St Paul, Minnesota; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Saint Louis, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; and Vicksburg, Mississippi. The map is an example of the promotional maps used to encourage settlement and investment in the West. (Published in Saint Louis, this map emphasized potential routes emanating from that city. The focus on Pike’s Peak highlighted the discovery of gold in Colorado.)https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_usa_1/1014/thumbnail.jp