Rare Early State with a Massive Idaho Territory

Upper half of HH Bancroft's rare map of the Pacific States, first published in 1863. The map includes all of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and most of Montana and Wyoming, with a large inset of Hawaii.

The map provides a remarkable depiction of Idaho Territory, in a configuration that lasted for approximately one year, between 1863 and 1864, before the formation of Montana Territory and extension of Dakota Territory to the modern boundary with Southern Idaho.

The detail in Idaho is exceptional, showing the Proposed Route of the Northern Pacific Railroad, Mullan's Wagon Road from Walla Walla to Fort Benton (624 Miles), and Mullan's proposed New Emigrant Route to Washington Territory and Oregon, along with the old Oregon Trail (Emigrant Route to Oregon) along the Snake River.

The map illustrates the area on the eve of the Snake War.

Rarity

Early states of the map are very rare. While the 1867 and later states appear on rare occasion on the market, the last reported complete example of the 1864 state to appear in a dealer catalog was in 1927 (Goodspeed's).

Provenance: Warren Heckrotte. Ex-Bancroft Library, deaccessioned to Warren by the Bancroft. Almost certainly, these unfolded sheets were given by HH Bancroft to the University of California at the time of the creation of the Bancroft Library and are unissued remainder sheets from the original publisher which were never sold or bound.