1811 Alberta Map

A map exhibiting all the new discoveries in the interior parts of North America

Updated version of the earlier maps, with the latest information up to 1811.

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Map File Description

This historical document is a highly detailed, hand-colored engraving titled "A map exhibiting all the new discoveries in the interior parts of North America," originally compiled by the prominent British cartographer Aaron Arrowsmith. The map features a vast geographic scope, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans and detailing the complex waterways, coastlines, and early trader-mapped river systems of what is now Canada and the northern United States. The map includes an elaborate, decorative calligraphic cartouche in the upper center, dedicated to the Hudson's Bay Company, and utilizes precise hachuring to depict mountainous terrain alongside delicate pink outline coloring to denote regional boundaries and routes known to European fur traders and explorers at the turn of the 19th century.

Interesting Alberta Facts (1811)

  • David Thompson's Epic Trek: In January 1811, famed explorer and mapmaker David Thompson successfully crossed the Rocky Mountains via the Athabasca Pass (located in what is now Jasper National Park). This harrowing winter expedition established a crucial, long-lasting fur trade route connecting the Alberta plains to the Pacific Northwest.
  • The Fur Trade Rivalry Intensifies: By 1811, the fierce competition between the North West Company (NWC) and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) was nearing its peak in the Alberta region. Trading posts like Fort Augustus and Edmonton House were frequently being moved, rebuilt, and consolidated as both companies aggressively vied for the economic allegiance of the Indigenous nations.

Description and Facts by Gemini - AI can make mistakes.

Source:
Arrowsmith, A. & Puke, J. (1814) A map exhibiting all the new discoveries in the interior parts of North America. London: A. Arrowsmith. [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3300.ct000584/