Mapping and Imagination in the Great Basin: A Cartographic History by Richard Francaviglia

Abstract

MAPPINGAND IMAGINATION IN THEGREATBASIN: A CARTOGRAPHIC HISTORY by Richard Francaviglia University ofNevada, Reno, 2005. Illustrations, photographs, maps, notes, bibliography, index. 249 pages. $24.95 paper. Richard Francaviglia assumes a daunting task in describing 450 years of cartographic his tory in 183pages of text accompanied by 48 maps that range frommanuscripts to satellite derived images. He succeeds by adhering to several themes throughout the book's nine chapters and by choosing maps to illustrate those themes rather than attempting a com prehensive history of exploration. Broadly described, the themes underscore the importance of (1) imagination and belief aswell as empirically derived information in shaping historical cartographic thought, (2) geopoliticallymotivated expectations of explo ration and mapping, (3) information gained from indigenous peoples in early exploration, and (4) acknowledging thatmapping always reflects incomplete knowledge. These ideas maybe provocative togeneral readers,and their application to a variety ofmodern maps may be informativeeven to those familiarwith the recent literatureofmapping and exploration. The firstchapter includes a useful basemap of theGreat Basin drawn by Francaviglia. He describes thecomplex geographyand biology of the region and contrasts thatdescription with areas on earlymaps thatwere labeled "Terra Incognita" or simply leftblank. That contrast allows readers tounderstand the"forbiddenand uninhabited quality" of the region that chal lenged earlyEuropean penetration (p. 12). Chapters 2 and 3 take readers from 1540 to 1795, concluding with a description of Captain Miera y Pacheco's 1777 report to the king of Spain about theDominquez-Escalante expedition. Large blank areas on themaps of Sebastian Munster and Abraham Ortelius began tobe partially filled inby "topomyths" (p. 24). Images ofhydrologie and topographic featureson thebeautiful manuscript maps of Miera and Francisco Barreiro reflected early information fromSpanish explorers and their informants. Here, as throughout the book, Francaviglia highlights the contextual history of the maps with citations fromboth primary literatureand scholarly studies. Chapter 4 isrichlyillustratedand covers 1795 to 1825, which isdescribed as a "period ... [of] ambitious, geopolitically motivated scientific exploration" (p. 43). Influential cartographers such as Alexander Von Humboldt, Zebulon Pike, and Aaron Arrowsmith featured inland lakes and waterways whose proper names, such as Lake Timpanogos and River Buenaventura, gave them increased credibility. Francaviglia describes John Melish's belief in the enduring myth of common headwaters of eastern and western flowing rivers, which was thoughttobe a potential "route of an overland communica tion" (p. 58).The chapter endswith a discussion and illustrationof the spectacularmanuscript map of JuanPedroWalker. Chapters 6 and 7 cover the period from 1850 to 1900. Francaviglia brieflydiscusses the antebellum mapping and surveyingwork of members of theCorps ofTopographical Engi neers, and thework of Clarence King, George Wheeler, and theGeneral Land Office afterthe CivilWar. He describes how gradually "filling in theblanks" onmaps with towns, wagon and railroad routes, and surveying and boundary lines servednot only to redraw theempty areas but also to increase expectations of ownership and authority (p. 123).Francaviglia introduces material fromhis previous work, specifically the role ofMormon map-makers and the cartographic literature of mining interests. The manuscript map of JamesMartineau is particularly noteworthy. Some of the earliest thematic maps showing cross-sections of geo logical areas of economic interest remind us that, within a short time span, even the interior of land formsof theGreat Basinwere no longer Terra Incognita. Reviews 323 In Chapter 8, Francaviglia discusses mod ernmaps such as highway maps and maps published by airlines, railroads, and theU.S. Geological Survey.Those maps are both pro motional and informative about options for traversing the landscape. In discussing topo graphicalmaps and satellite images,Francavi glia reminds us that the scale of observation of a region contributes to the knowing of it. Conversely, in his reflective and lucid sum mary Chapter 9, he concludes thatmapping a place ingreat detail isnot synonymouswith understanding itas a region. The textisaccompanied byblack-and-white reproduced photos, sketches, and forty-eight maps, twenty-oneofwhich are also reproduced indetail. The cartobibliography at the end of thebook would have been more useful ifthe alphabetic listings were keyed to the text loca tionof the illustrated map. There areoccasional editorial errors. I could not locate the Martin eaumap (Fig.6.8) in thecartobibliography,and there is a duplication entryunder both John Fremont and Charles Preuss forauthorship of the samemap referredto in the text. Addition ally, there...