Antique maps and prints of historic Utah.
This short
REFERENCE PAGE is designed to provide no more than a 'glimpse' of
the history of the State,
with a couple of examples of antiquarian maps and engravings and some interesting Links.
This Page is provided as a REFERENCE RESOURCE - it is NOT an Inventory.
Genuine
historical maps and prints by mail order - all are eminently suitable for framing and
are offered On Approval, which
GUARANTEES
YOUR ENTIRE SATISFACTION!
Look us over, but don't
overlook us.
UTAH TERRITORY
The article below was written in 1885 and makes interesting reading.
Topography: The average length of Utah north and south is about 350 miles; average breadth, about 260 miles; area, 84,970 square miles, or 54,380,800 acres.
The country is rugged and broken, and is separated into two unequal sections by the Wahsatch mountains, which cross it from northeast to southwest. Extending east from the Wahsatch, along the southern border of Wyoming, are the Uintah mountains. Other prominent ranges are the Roan, Little, Sierra Lasal Sierra Abajo, San Juan and Sierra Panoches.
In the Southeast are extensive elevated plateaus, and in the west a series of disconnected ridges and mountain ranges, generally extending from north to south. East of the Wahsatch the drainage is mostly by the streams which form the Colorado. Of these, the chief are Grand and Green rivers. White, Uintah and San Rafael are tributary to Green river.
The Rio Virgin, in the southwest, joins the Colorado in Nevada. Among the lakes, the largest is the Great Salt Lake in the Northwest, which is seventy-five miles long and about thirty broad. Utah Lake is a beautiful sheet of fresh water, having an area of about 130 square miles, and closely hemmed in by mountains.
It is connected with the Great Salt Lake by the Jordan river. Bear Lake is on the Idaho border, and partly in that Territory. The Sevier river, rising in the southern part of Utah, flows north for 150 miles, receiving the San Pete and other smaller streams, then bends southwest and forms Sevier Lake, about 100 miles south west of the Great Salt Lake.
Climate: The climate for the most part is mild and healthful.
The mean annual temperature east of the Wahsatch mountains is from 38° to 44°, and west of that range from 45° to 52° Fahrenheit, while in the valley of the Rio Virgin and in the southwest generally the summers are dry and hot.
The rainfall averages fifteen to sixteen inches per annum, and sometimes reaches twenty inches in the north. Most of the rain falls between October and April; spring opens in the latter month, and cold weather seldom sets in before the end of November.
In the mountainous districts the winters are severe, and the snowfall is heavy.
History: The country now included in the Territory of Utah was acquired from Mexico by treaty in 1848. The manner of its settlement differed widely from that of other divisions of the Union.
The Mormons, who had settled at Nauvoo and Carthage, Ill., after being driven from Missouri, became convinced in 1845 that with, their peculiar form of belief, and the hostility which it engendered against them, they could find safety and room for growth only in a new country, and they therefore decided to emigrate so far west that, as was then believed, the United States would not be able to reach them, at least for many years.
In 1846 large numbers gathered at Council, Bluffs, Iowa, and in the following spring pioneers crossed the plains to Salt Lake valley. The -grand exodus did not, however, take place until May, 1848, and the main body did not reach Salt Lake until the autumn. Before the Mormons had been a year in Utah, they held a convention (March, 1849), and organized a State to be known as "Deseret."
The constitution thus prepared was rejected by Congress, and Sept. 9, 1850, the Territory of Utah, then including over 220,000 square miles, and embracing portions of the present States of Colorado and Nevada, and the Territory of Wyoming, was formed, with Brigham Young, as its governor.
From this time until 1858 the Mormons were in continued difficulties with the United States government. In 1854 Brigham Young was removed, and Col. Steptoe, U. S. A., was appointed governor. He arrived in Salt Lake City in August of that year; but, although supported by a battalion of Federal troops, did not deem it advisable to assume the duties of his position, and, in the spring of 1855, formally resigned, and removed his troops to California.
Young still retained the office of Governor. In February, 1856, the judge of the United States district court was compelled to adjourn court by an excited mob of armed Mormons, and shortly afterward all the Federal officials, with the exception of the Indian agent, were driven from the Territory.
In 1857 President Buchanan appointed Alfred Cummings as governor, and Judge Eckels, of Indiana, as chief justice. In order to protect these officials from violence, a force of 2,500 United States troops was ordered to Salt Lake.
The army reached Utah in September, but severe weather came on before it entered Salt Lake valley, and Col. Albert Sidney Johnston, who had assumed command, decided to winter on Black's Fork, near Fort Bridger.
In the spring of 1858 they prepared to move on Salt Lake City, but, meantime, an understanding had been arrived at between the government and the heads of the church, and the threatened conflict was avoided, Several attempts have been made to secure the admission of Utah as a State, but uniformly without success. In August, 1877, Brigham Young died, and the presidency of the church of the latter-day saints devolved upon John Taylor, who had for many years been one of the twelve apostles the advisory council of the president.
Population: Census of 1880: Males, 74,509; Females, 69,454; Native, 99,969; Foreign, 43,994; White, 142,423; Coloured, 1,540, including 501 Chinese and 807 Indians.
VIEWS OF SALT LAKE CITY
Published in the Illustrated London News in 1869.
Click on image to view a larger version
Published in the The Graphic in 1885
Click on image to view a larger version
ANTIQUARIAN MAP OF UTAH and NEVADA
Published by S. Augustus MITCHELL of Philadelphia. 1875.
Overall size is 15x11 inches. ORIGINAL COLOURING
Click on image to view a larger version
INTERESTING LINKS
OTHER POSTAPRINT US STATES FEATURE PAGES
A Thumbnail Sketch in Utah History
Contributions and suggestions for additional links would be most welcome.
After very many years in the Trade,
I am now
retired and the
Postaprint Website
as such is no longer available.
However this large collection of Reference Pages
is being
left on line, as we hope you will find them to informative and helpful. They
provide details of many of the maps, books and engravings we had the pleasure of dealing in over so
many years.
For a complete index of all
such Reference Pages PLEASE DO CLICK
HERE.
However,
my wife has a
store on eBay, with
many offers of delightful antiquarian maps & prints
& engravings.
SOME INTERESTING & UNUSUAL GIFT IDEAS FROM JULIE
DO VISIT MY EBAY SHOP
FOR UNUSUAL IDEAS FOR PRESENTS
Perhaps a map or print of somewhere important in
someone's life. For example, where
they were born, got married, went on honeymoon etc. I do have a wide selection
of topographical views and historical maps.
America's,
UK,
Europe,
Asia,
Africa,
Australia,
The World, Etc.
...Or do a search for their last name, you will be surprised
what you might discover!
Specialist mail order suppliers of collectible historical antique maps and engravings.