Reports of Exploration and Surveys, to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economic Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean… in 1853-4… Vol. III

4to original cloth, rebacked with original spine strip laid on, new endpapers. Illustrated with 20 (of 21) color lithographs, several steel engraved charts and shell engravings, and three color lithographed folding maps. Table of contents list 20 color plates, but some copies seem to have twenty-one. Two of the folding maps/charts have been placed in a rear endpaper pocket; one has a neat repair. A little rubbing to cloth, and some minor darkening within. Could be missing one plate. Overall, very good and nicely restored. One of the great sources of information on the west, the Pacific Railroad Reports also contains some great illustrations. This installment (Vol. III) is no exception. Included are some interesting and colorful pictures of the Mojave Indians and their territory. This report contains intelligence on an expedition near the 35th parallel, which took the southern route due west to the Pacific Ocean from Fort Smith Kansas, that was conducted by Lieutenant A.W. Whipple and assisted by Lieutenant J.C. Ives. Ives would make his own mark on western expansion a few years later in his travels on the Colorado River. Wagner-Camp 263