File:1852 Stansbury Map of the Great Salt Lake to Fort Levenworth Route (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Kansas) - Geographicus - LevenworthGreatSaltLake2-stansbury-1852.jpg

English: It had been a daring feat of exploration, succeeding where the mountain men had all failed, and by means of his map ... Stansbury had painted at least one more bold stroke into the unfinished portrait of the national landscape. - William Goetzmann This monumental map details Stansbury's seminal 1852 trek from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to the Great Salt Lake region of Utah. It is considered to be the first accurate survey of the Great Basin and the southern Rocky Mountains, as well as a cornerstone achievement in the mapping of the American West. The first westerner to visit the Great Basin was most likely Silvestre Vélez de Escalante in the 1776, however, Escalante, who visited Utah Lake to the south, never truly laid eyes on Great Salt Lake. That honor would fall to unnamed trappers and mountain men traveling the region in search of furs and other tradable commodities. Unfortunately, few of these were literate. The first scientific expedition to this area was headed up by Fremont in 1843. Daunted by the season and climate, Fremont never circumnavigated the lake. That task fell to Howard Stansbury who, in 1849, was assigned by Congress to survey the Great Salt Lake, the Utah Valley, and the emigrant roads passing through the region. Stansbury, working with Gunnison, Carrington, and others, took about two years to complete their survey before presenting it to Congress in 1852. This map was part of that presentation. Covering the region from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to the Great Basin, Utah, Sansbury's map is the result of a monumental feat of exploration and scientific tenacity. Includes the modern day states of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The detail throughout is extraordinary, identifying springs, rivers, passes, important buildings, American Indian settlements, canals, etc. Stansbury's work and this map are responsible for creating much of the region's nomenclature, but where it is not, both Mormon and American Indian names are provided. This is also one of the earliest maps to delineate the street grid of Salt Lake City. As much as possible, Stansbury attempts to provide useful information for the traveler. He notes the campsites where his team rested and offers dates for each. Both the Emigrant Road from California (passing north of the lake) and the Road From California (Passing South of the Lake) are shown. He also provides useful notations, such as this one just to the left of Great Salt Lake This desert consists of clay and sand impregnated with salt. When wet, it has the consistency of mortar. Lightly loaded wagons can pass between Spring Valley and Pilot Peak in the driest part of the season. Forage and water must be carried for cattle, and the journey begun in the P. M. and continued through the night. Distance between springs 70 ms. . Stansbury also provides considerable with regard to the Rocky Mountains (Colorado and Wyoming), noting South Park, Middle Park, and North Park as well as Pikes Peak, Longs Peak, Laramie Peak, and others. This map details the whole of Stansbury's 1849 to 1850 journey. A year after his return, it was presented in Washington and received with great acclaim. Gunnison, Stansbury's second, was commissioned to return to the region the next year in order to survey a viable route for the Pacific Railroad. In the process of completing this project, Gunnison fell afoul of the local Ute (Utah) Indians, who killed him and several other members of his party in an ambush, delaying the survey and the development of the Pacific Railroad for a number of years. Drawn by H. Gunnison and C. Pruss. Published in 1852 as part of the Stansbury Report , which was presented to congress in that same year. The cartography of Utah and the Great Basin truly begins with this map and Wheat devotes no less than seven pages to its description.