Continental Divide

[jim wolf]

I am interested in discovering very early uses of the term
"Continental Divide."

"Divide" as a designation for the separation of watersheds goes back
at least to the first part of the nineteenth century. There were also
many other terms in use for the Continental Divide, such as "backbone
of the continent" or "dividing ridge." And there was even a reference
to "where the waters divide" in an overland journal of the 1840s.

So far, the earliest mention of the precise term "Continental Divide"
is in Government documents of 1866 and 1867.  And it doesn't show up
on maps until at least 1873.

Can anyone locate any "Continental Divide" reference, on documents or
maps, earlier than these?

Jim Wolf

(James R. Wolf, cdtsociety at yahoo.com)



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