Page’s Map of Colorado 1889

Between 1866 and 1890, the illustrated state atlas flourished as a new branch of commercial cartography in the United States. State atlas publishing was an extension and refinement of the highly successful county atlas publishing business, which had evolved from the county map industry that had been profitable before and after the Civil War. The present map of Colorado likely comes—oddly enough—from the Illustrated Historical Atlas of Wisconsin, first published by H. R. Page & Company of Chicago in 1881. Page had acquired the map plates prepared by the Milwaukee company of Snyder and Van Vechten in 1878 for their Historical Atlas of Wisconsin, to which Page then added sections of historical text and maps of thirteen states besides Wisconsin, including the Colorado offered here.

Page’s Colorado records the state twelve years after it entered the Union in 1876 and is likely the largest hand-colored map of Colorado to appear in an atlas at the time. The sizes of the colored counties are good graphic indicators of settlement patterns, with the smaller counties having denser populations. Eventually, as Colorado became more populated and developed, the shape of its counties would continue to change. Railroads already form a significant network throughout the state, reflecting the rapid pace of mining activity. Perhaps one half of the territory has been divided into township grids, which roughly follow the railroads, and reveal the progress of government surveys.

Further details include towns, roads, railroads, forts, mines, rivers, and springs. The Continental Divide is emphasized on the map with a dashed line, and many prominent mountain peaks are named throughout the state (e.g., Long’s, Pike’s). This large and impressive map represents one of the earliest maps of Colorado.