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Limited Edition Poster - Map Of The Northwest Fur Country. 1836 WARREN A FERRIS

Limited Edition Poster - Map Of The Northwest Fur Country. 1836

WARREN A FERRIS

Other works by WARREN A FERRIS

Publication: Mountain Grizzly Publications, 2000, N P

Map Courtesy of Brigham Young University Library Special Collections. No. 262 of edition of 2,000. 30 3/4" x 22" poster showing the 1836 map (21" x 17") created by Warren A. Ferris. "Warren Ferris was one of many trappers, or mountain men, who traversed the Northern and Central Rocky Mountains in the 1820s and 1830s in search for beaver and other sources of fur. In 1835 and 1836, Warren Ferris returned from a five-year sojourn as a trapper in the Rocky Mountains, and decided to draw, by hand, a map of a major portion of a largely unsettled portion of the West, with what would later be Utah at the center. The map spans from the eastern slopes of the Colorado Rockies and extend west to include the junction of the Snake and Salmon Rivers, now in Idaho. It extends from the upper Missouri River down to the Grand Canyon area. Ferris intended to publish the map along with the journal that he had kept during those years. Most of the journal ended up being published through a small weekly publication out of Buffalo, New York, called the Western Literary Messenger. The map, however, was not published with it, and remained unseen by the public until the publication of Life in the Rocky Mountains in 1940 by Fred A. Rosenstock's Old West Publishing Company out of Denver, which included Ferris's journal from 1830-1835 in one publication for the first time. Even then, it only included a copy of the map. In the process of creating this publication, the original map had come into the possession of Rosenstock, a collector of documents and books related to Western Americana, and owned Bargain Book Store in Denver. This map was part of a large collection of documents related to Warren Ferris and his family. This collection was purchased from Rosenstock by BYU's Lee Library in 1982. But, the story goes that when going through the collection in Denver, there was a seemingly insignificant paper tube that was near the rest of the collection. When asked if this went with the collection, the Rosenstock staff assumed so, and it went with the papers to BYU. It was not until later that the tube was opened, and much to the surprise and delight of whoever made the discovery, inside was a beautifully preserved, hand-drawn map of the inter-mountain west ... the original 1836 Warren Ferris map! The map provides amazing details of the rivers and lakes of the region, including some place names, often provided by Ferris himself. Included are early descriptions of the area that is now Yellowstone National Park. Ferris is actually thought to be the first 'tourist' to visit this area, doing so under the guidance of some local Native tribesmen. Much of the area can easily be identified today." Poster is fine in original shrink wrap.

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