File:A Map of Western British North America Showing Assiniboia (1819) (2186577944).jpg

Great Britain Colonial Office. A Map of Western British North America Showing Assiniboia [map]. [10,137,600]. In: Great Britain Colonial Office. Papers Relating to the Red River Settlement. London: Hansard & Sons, Printers, 1819, plate 1.

In 1819 the British government published a collection of documents relating to the Red River Settlement, to try and pull together information on the clash between the Husdon’s Bay Company and the Nor’Westers. Included in the collection was a general map showing the northern interior of North America. The map shows Lord Selkirk’s grant, but despite the 1819 date the international boundary at the 49th parallel is not marked. Hudson’s Bay Company posts are identified by individual names, but each North West Company post is simply designated N.W. The vital portages in the fur trade of the Northwest, Portage de Traille and Loche Carring Place, are named. Grand Portage is marked, and so is the “New Road” from Fort William. The cartographer appears to have used information from both Thompson and Fidler, likely through the Arrowsmith maps. Lake Manitoba is called Boh Lake and follows the shape of Thompson’s drawing of the lake. The Hill river (Hayes) is not drawn above Oxford Lake, but the Nelson river is fully shown. At this time there was no sense of the Manitoba Escarpment, though the Hair (Pembina) Hills are indicated. James Basire, the engraver, has produced a map which is elegant in its simplicity and has exceptionally clear cut lettering.