Image: Emory Map of Texas 1844 UTA

Description: U.S. Army Topographical Engineer Lieutenant William H. Emory (1811-1887) prepared this map of the Republic of Texas in preparation for the negotiations between the representatives of the U.S. government and the representatives of the Republic of Texas when they met in Washington, D.C., to discuss the issue of annexation. The map shows Texas and its position relative to the U.S. and Mexico, which at that time still included all of what became the U.S. Southwest. Emory had not yet visited Texas (although he would later accompany General Stephen F. Kearny's expedition to San Diego during the U.S. War with Mexico of 1846-1848 and also head the U.S.-Mexican boundary survey of the 1850s). Emory used the best sources available, including maps by Alexander von Humboldt, Zebulon Pike, Stephen Long, John C. Fremont, the U.S. Boundary Commission Survey of 1825, Stephen F. Austin, John Arrowsmith, William Kennedy, and S. Augustus Mitchell. This also meant that he placed "Passo del Norte" too far east (by one-and-a-half degrees of longitude), thus making the area of present far west Texas much too compressed. Emory acknowledged the dearth of information by delineating two sites for "Presidio de Rio Grande" and by noting that "of the two positions given … no information can be obtained to decide which is correct." The map shows routes of American military and civilian pathfinders in the west including Pike (1806), Long (1819-1821), Gregg (1839), and Fremont (1842). It also indicates topographical features and numerous early settlements in eastern and southeastern Texas.
Title: Map of Texas and the Countries Adjacent
Credit: Cartographic Connections: map / text
Author: William H. Emory
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No