Colton 1853 map--by Gibbs?

[Jeffrey Kopp]

Well, while I'm at it, a couple months ago I posted an 1853 map of Washington and Oregon published by J.H. Colton & Co. (see http://chinookjargon.home.attbi.com/map.htm )  I am told it was prepared by George Gibbs, though he is not referred to on the engraving.

(Duane kindly contributed the image; we actually scanned it at his place last summer in four sections--through the glass of its frame--and divided the image further so we could email it to my home in pieces, where I straightened and reassembled it.) (Whew.)

While trying to track this down on the Web, I discovered Colton was a map and atlas maker and published maps of the whole country (plus a national atlas and mammoth Atlas of the World) in the 1850s-1860s.  Gibbs prepared a number of Northwest regional maps in the same time period, most for reports having to do with his work (i.e., documenting Native territories or locations), though I found one survey map of Washington prepared for Governor Stevens to which he contributed (data on Native lands).  Gibbs did travel to conduct surveys personally as well.

I think it is likely that Gibbs' work was heavily drawn upon for Colton's map, though I can't establish or find any documentation for the connection.  He might possibly have been commissioned by or sold some of his existing work to Colton, or they (my guess) probably just "collated" it into other available data when preparing the map.

P.S. I originally posted the map in a huge 3000x2400-pixel size (not wishing to lose detail), but have since reduced it to 2000x1600--though both versions remain online.  (The image itself is divided, and viewable in sections for those with slower connections.)  If you should happen to take a look and find the smaller version sufficiently legible, I'd appreciate knowing, so I can drop the bigger one. (The larger version takes a huge chunk of server space, as well as being awkward to view). 

(Since 800x600 and larger screens have replaced the 640x480 which were most common when I built the site, I intend to make the other maps a bit larger--someday when I can do more work on the site--as well as the images of LeJeune's script dictionary, which is almost unreadable in its current size.)

Thanks.

Jeff