Map of the Oregon Territory (1841)

• Main Author: Wilkes, Charles, 1798-1877
• Other Authors: Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections; University of Washington Libraries Map Collection
• Format: Map
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey 1841
• Subjects: Northwest; Pacific > Maps; Columbia River > Maps; West (U.S.) > Maps; Elliott; Elliott Bay; New Zealand; Pacific; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/maps/id/93

1 map 57 x 70 cm., on sheet 63 x 92 cm. Relief shown by hachures. Inset: Columbia River, reduced from a survey / made by the U.S. Ex. Ex., 1841. -- Scale ca. 1:700,000. Scale ca. 1:3,500,000 In 1836, Congress approved the sum of $300,000 for a purely scientific exploratory expedition. The expedition, headed by Charles Wilkes, left in 1838 and returned in 1842. The scientific expedition visited at least cursorily most every non-civilized coastal area in the world, including the Pacific Northwest in 1841. Other areas visited include South America, New Zealand, Hawaii, the East Indies, Australia, and South Pacific islands too numerous to list. This expedition also provided the first proof of the existence of the continent of Antarctica. A large number of Puget Sound names which are still in use today were provided by Wilkes' expedition, Commencement Bay (where he started his charting of the sound) and Elliott Bay among them.