History ETDs

Publication Date

6-12-1968

Abstract

This study of the history of cartography of New Mexico is not simply a description of sequences of changes in maps depicting New Mexico. It is also a study of the influences upon the cartographers of the period and the sources of information available to them. Maps were rarely made for cartographical purposes alone. There were many reasons for producing maps: profit, to prove political points, to show cause for invasion, indicating the need for more troops or a different settlement pattern, the list could go on indefinitely. The difference in purpose naturally influence the content of the final product. Maps depicting New Mexico fall into two general types: European printed maps and manuscript maps. Manuscript maps were generally made from first hand observation. European printed maps were at best based on manuscript maps and at worst, were mere copies of other printed maps. Timewise these two categories parallel each other. They were not mutually exclusive, but they seem to have had little effect on each other. However, overall ideas of geography were generally established by printed maps. The author has divided the hundreds of European printed maps into eleven major categories, based primarily on New Mexico place names and the manner of depicting the Rio Grande. From before the time the first New Mexico place name was put on a map until near the end of the seventeenth century, cartography as a science developed in fits and starts from its medieval origins. It was not until the "Age of Reason" that it achieved a degree of objectivity and restraint. Chapter I traces the development of the concept of New Mexico to this point. Six types are included in this initial theoretical period. The major figure of the last type, Nicolas Sanson, is a bridge from the nebulous to the concrete. Chapter II discusses printed maps in the "Age of Reason" and the Enlightenment. It is essentially the story of French maps, since these set the style for all of Europe, and ends with the end of French expansion in the New World. The end of expansion saw the last new type of printed map degenerate into a formula for depicting New Mexico containing much antiquated and mythical information. This remained the case until the early part of the nineteenth century. Chapter III describes Spanish manuscript maps from the earliest recorded one in 1540 until the last one to contain new information of New Mexico. After this last map, made in 1779, cartography went into a slump similar to that of printed maps of the time. This was largely due to monetary difficulties in Spain. Cartography of New Mexico did not revive until the early nineteenth century brought people such as Humboldt and U.S. Army officers into the area.

Level of Degree

Masters

Degree Name

History

Department Name

History

First Committee Member (Chair)

Donald Colgett Cutter

Second Committee Member

Florence Hawley Ellis

Third Committee Member

Marc Steven Simmons

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

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