Report of Explorations Across the Great Basin of the Territory of Utah for a Direct Wagon-Route from Camp Floyd to Genoa, in Carson Valley, in 1859
Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1876. First Edition. 518pp. Quarto [30.5 cm] In the original 3/4 leather over matching dark brown boards with gilt stamped title on the backstrip. Marbled pastedowns and endsheets. Complete with all plates and the large map. Good only. Front hinge split. Bookplates on the front pastedown. Shelving number faded on the backstrip. Item #10861
In 1859, U.S. Army topographical engineer Captain James H. Simpson explored the Great Basin of Utah, mapping a direct,300-mile wagon route from Camp Floyd to Genoa, Nevada. This faster route, which avoided the older, southern paths, was crucial for the Pony Express, the Overland Mail, the telegraph line, and later the Lincoln Highway. The report was submitted in 1861, but publication had to be deferred because of the Civil War. Portions, however, appeared in the author's 'The Shortest Route to California.' Flake/Draper 7724. Fales & Flake 170. Graff 3791. Howes S501. Moffat 57-59. Paher 1802. Sabin 8135. Wheat 999-1000.
Price: $250.00