PBA Galleries

250pp. plus two folding maps and seventy-two lithographed plates, several handcolored, some folding (plates are numbered to 75; plates 2, 21, and 39 were not issued). (8vo)  22.4x14.6 cm (8¾x5¾"), modern quarter brown leather over marbled boards, gilt spine title.

This report was most important for the opening of travel and settlement in West Texas and New Mexico.  By these explorations a supply and potential railroad route was surveyed across West Texas, and this became the main passageway for soldiers, settlers, and gold seekers.  The surveyors were pleased with what they saw, pointing out the large population which could be supported in the Rio Grande Valley as well as the strategic importance of El Paso.  The Simpson report is one of the first thorough surveys in New Mexico.  Related to it are the many handsome plates and one of the maps.  The other map shows the routes across Texas.  The plates in the Simpson report make it an important American color plate book.

Includes: 

• The Report of Capt. R.B. Marcy's Route from Fort Smith to Santa Fe
• The Report of Lt. J.H. Simpson of an Expedition into the Navajo Country
• The Report of Lt. W.H.C. Whiting's Reconnaissances of the Western Frontier of Texas