Antique Maps and Prints of The Historic Territory of Arizona.

We supply genuine historical maps and prints by mail order - all are eminently suitable for framing and are offered On Approval, which

This short REFERENCE PAGE is designed to provide no more than a 'glimpse' of the history of Arizona,
with a couple of examples of antiquarian maps and engravings of the State and some interesting Links.
This Page is provided as a REFERENCE RESOURCE - it is NOT an Inventory.
Before I retired, Postaprint supplied picture framers and antiquarian map & print dealers for over 25 years. The inventory encompassed examples of the cartographer's art from the 16th to the 19th century, along with topographical engravings, lithographs and etchings by leading artists of their generation. You can Search my wife's eBay Store Database for historic maps, views, and engravings on virtually every subject, including Vanity Fair (Spy) Cartoons. All our offers are genuine old and historical items on a wide range of subjects.
All are suitable for framing by Art Galleries, Shops and Fine Art Retailers.
Do visit my wife's eBay Store

Do visit
JULIE'S ANTIQUE PRINTS
A wide range of genuine antique engravings, maps, prints, lithographs and books.

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We only offer genuine original antiquarian maps and historical engravings, printed at the dates stated.
We do NOT deal in modern reproductions.

Topography: The area of the Territory of Arizona is 113,020 square miles, or 72,332,800 acres, of which 67,098,366 are unsurveyed. The middle and northeastern portions of the Territory consist of plateaus which have an elevation of from 3,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea, and are here and there dotted by volcanic cones rising 2,500 feet above the plateaus.

The southern portion is a plain with a slight elevation above the sea, amounting to only 200 feet at the mouth of the Gila. The mountain ranges, of which there are many, have generally a northwest and southeast course, with the exception of the Mogollon range, in the east, which runs nearly east and west, joining the Sierra Blanca.

The Sierra Prieta and the Aztec range, in central Arizona, are flanked by foot-hills, which sink gradually to the level of the table land on the northeast, and of the mesas sloping toward the Colorado river in the southwest. The highest mountain is the San Francisco, a volcanic cone, whose summit is 11,000 feet above the sea.

The Colorado, which is the largest and the only navigable river, is formed by the junction, in Southern Utah, of the Green and Grand rivers, and flows southerly along the western boundary of Arizona, emptying into the Gulf of California just south of the southern line of the Territory.

This river has during the course of centuries cut for itself a deep channel through the rocks, so that for long distances it flows between perpendicular walls 7,000 feet in height.

It is navigable for a distance of 612 miles from its mouth; above that point it becomes shallow, except in the rainy season, has a very swift current and is filled with rapids.

Its principal tributaries are the Gila, which has its source in New Mexico and flows in a southwesterly course, until it joins the Colorado about 180 miles above the Gulf of California; the Colorado Chiquito, which rises in the northwest; and Bill Williams fork.

Here, as in New Mexico, agriculture can be carried on only where irrigation is practicable, which applies to about five per cent of the total area. There are desert tracts covered with shifting sands, which are utterly unfit for cultivation, and much of the Territory south of the Gila is an arid waste. But the soil in the river bottoms and in the mountain valleys of middle and eastern Arizona is of great richness.

Pine and cedar grow on the mountains in the central and northern part of the Territory, and walnut, cherry and cottonwood are found along the streams. On the plains south of the Gila only the cactus, artemisia and mesquite can live.

Climate: The climate is mild and generally healthful, lung and malarious diseases being almost unknown.

The summer temperature of the treeless plains in the south is intensely hot, the thermometer often indicating 118° Fahrenheit, and rarely falling in winter below 34°.

In the central and more elevated portion of the Territory the temperature is moderate, seldom exceeding 90° in summer. Snow falls on the mountains, but remains only a short time.

The rainfall along the Gila averages from four to five inches, while at the base of the range it rises to twenty-five or thirty. Showers are most frequent in July and August.

History: Arizona was first visited by Spanish exploring parties as early as 1526. They found there indications of mineral wealth, but also warlike and hostile Indians, so that they made but few settlements, and the country was but little better known when it passed into the hands of the Americans than it was 300 years before.

That portion of the Territory lying north of the Gila river was acquired by the treaty with Mexico, signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo, Feb. 2, 1848, and that south of it was bought from Mexico under the Gadsden treaty of Dec. 30, 1853, it being desired to straighten the southern frontier, and to acquire what were believed to be mineral lands of much value.

Arizona was made a Territory by the act of Feb. 24, 1863, prior to which time it had formed a part of New Mexico.

Population: Census of 1880: Males, 28,202; Females, 12,238; Native, 24,391; Foreign, 16,049; White, 35,160; Colored, 5,280, including 1,630 Chinese, 2 Japanese and 3,493 Indians.

Genuine, historical authentic antiquarian maps, prints, engravings and illustrated view books. Every item we sell is guaranteed original and suitable for framing, and is backed by our "no questions asked", full refund, return policy.

Specialist mail order suppliers of collectible historical antique maps and engravings.