"South West Land District of Missouri", General Land Office

This map shows the progress of surveys in the vicinity of Springfield that had been settled only six years previously. The sections are noted as (S) Subdivided, (A) Recommended for immediate Subdivision, and (B) Reported by the Surveyors as not wanted for present use; the Land being generally inferior quality and without Settlers thereon. A Delaware Village is located near Springfield. The surveyor's names are shown on several of the parcels yet to be subdivided. Among the surveyors is Jesse Applegate who was an early settler who moved to Missouri from Kentucky in 1821. He worked as a schoolteacher, clerk, and deputy surveyor to the Missouri Surveyor General, where he met Jedediah Smith, William Sublette, and David Edward Jackson, men who were instrumental in blazing the Oregon Trail. He went on to lead a large group of settlers to the Oregon Country and helped establish the Applegate Trail as an alternative route to the Oregon Trail.

References: Clausen & Friis #139.

Condition: B

Original color. Issued folding, now flattened. Several marginal tears are repaired with archival tape and the binding trim has been replaced to better accommodate framing.