[detail] Frank A. Gray, Gray’s New Map of Texas and the Indian Territory, Philadelphia: O.W. Gray & Son, 1876, Map #97282, Map Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX (hereafter, TGLO).

Former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar Chase Untermeyer Donates Maps to the GLO Archives

The GLO is pleased to accept eight maps of Texas and Mexico from Chase Untermeyer, a U.S. Navy veteran and former Texas State Representative and U.S. ambassador to Qatar. Mr. Untermeyer previously contributed five digital images of historical maps that have been hosted on the GLO’s online database since 2018; however, with this donation, the physical maps become a part of the GLO Archives, where they will be preserved for future generations of Texans to study.

To view any of the maps in this post in greater detail, click on the linked map numbers in the captions below the images.

[left] Produced in the first decade after Texas’ annexation to the United States, this map shows the eastern two thirds of the state. It features each county with its seat, hachures representing topography, and proposed railroad lines. Texas, [1851 ca.], Map #97275, TGLO. [right] This map depicts Mexico, Central America, and part of the United States shortly after Mexico won its independence from Spain. Present-day Texas appears as part of Coahuila, “Texas or New Estremadura,” and San Luís Potosí. J.H. Young, Mexico and Guatimala, [1828], Map #97276, TGLO.

Mr. Untermeyer’s appreciation of maps began at a young age and as a child, he enjoyed studying the maps that appeared in every other edition of National Geographic. Growing up, he started acquiring maps from various sources, including his grandmother and former high school French teacher. When he moved to Washington, D.C., to serve in the Reagan administration, he began purchasing maps of Texas he found for sale at low prices on the East Coast. His favorite map, for a self-described “quirky” reason, relates to his time working for the Harris County judge in the mid-1970s. The judge lived on Kuykendahl Road, named for early Texas German immigrant Henry A. Kuykendahl, who lived with his family along Cypress Creek in northwestern Harris County. When he acquired an 1845 map of Texas, however, he noted a small community nearby named Kuykendahl — and suddenly, the road’s name made sense.

[left] The relative density of settlement in Mexico versus Texas is apparent in this French map of New Spain. Details in present-day Texas include rivers, forts, and the locations of Indigenous groups. Rigobert Bonne, Le Nouveau Mexique avec la partie Septentrionale de l’Ancien ou de la Nouvelle Espagne, Paris, [1780], Map #97277, TGLO. [right] Texas appears as part of French Louisiana on this map of part of North America. A notation references La Salle’s 1685 arrival in Texas. Jacques Nicolas Bellin, Carte de la Louisiane et Pays Voisins pour servir à l’Histoire Générale des Voyages, [Paris], 1757, Map #97278, TGLO.

Mr. Untermeyer’s decision to donate his maps to the GLO was essentially practical. While moving to a smaller office with less wall space, he realized he no longer had a place for some of the maps that had hung in his workspace for many years. Recalling his previous digital contributions to the GLO and recognizing the maps’ relevance to the overall collection, he felt it was the right time to hand them over permanently to the agency that will value and preserve them.

[left] Although Mexico is the primary focus of this map, the cartographer afforded as much, if not more, attention to the Republic of Texas, which extends from the Rocky Mountains to the Río Grande. An inset explores Texas further, laying out the county boundaries in the settled region of the Republic. Mexico, [1840 ca.], Map #97279, TGLO. [right] This late map of the republic represents its southern boundary as the Río Grande, a claim disputed by Mexico, and it includes Texas’ claims as far north as the Arkansas River in an inset. Callbacks to the Texas Revolution include Fort Alamo in San Antonio and the San Jacinto battlefield east of Houston. C.S. Williams, Map of Texas from the Most Recent Authorities, Philadelphia: 1845, Map #97280, TGLO.

It is not simply an appreciation of maps that drives Mr. Untermeyer’s fondness for history. He acknowledges the importance of saving and preserving all history — maps, letters, diaries, photographs, portraits, and even passports and other ephemera — while lamenting the tragic reality that often, such items are lost to time or indifference. He encourages anyone with a collection of documents who no longer wishes to maintain them to consider donating them to a library, university, or state agency that will accept them permanently, digitize them, or copy them. At the least, he suggests including names and dates on the reverse of photographs so anyone who finds them later would have that context and information.

[left] This chart of Galveston Harbor includes sounding depths measured in feet at mean low tide. The Bolivar and Galveston Channels are labeled, the tip of Galveston Island protrudes into the bay at lower left, and a lighthouse on Bolivar point appears above the title block. S.M Mansfield and H.C. Ripley, Galveston Harbor, Texas, 1882, Map #97281, TGLO. [right] A wealth of information is packed into this map, which lays out Texas’ counties, cities, and expanding railroad network. Insets provide details on the state’s elevation and river basins, as well as detailed views of the cities of Austin and Galveston and Matagorda and Galveston Bays. Frank A. Gray, Gray’s New Map of Texas and the Indian Territory, Philadelphia: O.W. Gray & Son, 1876, Map #97282, TGLO.

Chase Untermeyer’s donated maps have been digitized and can be viewed online. Reproductions are available for $20, and the proceeds benefit the Save Texas History Program.

• Texas, [1851 ca.] (GLO Map #97275)
• Mexico and Guatimala [sic], [1828] (GLO Map #97276)
• Le Nouveau Mexique avec la partie Septentrionale de l’Ancien ou de la Nouvelle Espagne, n.d. (GLO Map #97277)
• Carte de la Louisiane et Pays Voisins pour servir à l’Histoire Générale des Voyages, 1757 (GLO Map #97278)
• Mexico, [1840 ca.] (GLO Map #97279)
• Map of Texas from the most recent authorities, 1845 (GLO Map #97280)
• Galveston Harbor, Texas, 1882 (GLO Map #97281)
• Gray’s New Map of Texas and the Indian Territory, 1876 (GLO Map #97282)

Mr. Untermeyer’s maps join other donations to the GLO. Including:

• Thirteen pieces from the Texana Foundation, highlighted by Humboldt’s Carte Général
• Three North American maps from Ms. Katherine Staat
• A large 1854 map of North America from Mr. Roger Defoe
• A German map of the Republic of Texas from Carol and Morris McIntyre
• An unrecorded proof of an early statehood map of Central Texas from Jeanne Buchanan and Susan Morgenthaler in memory of Jefferson Morgenthaler
• An incredibly rare 1848 Stephen F. Austin map of Texas from Mr. Thomas B. and Mrs. Marsha Brown Taylor in memory of Harrison K. and Margaret C. Brown.

If you have a map or a collection that you think fits within the collecting scope of the GLO Archives, we encourage you to donate it to the agency. Donated material will be preserved, digitized, and made available for future generations of Texans to appreciate. Donating a map is a great way to show generosity and Texan pride, preserve the document, and leave a lasting contribution to advancing Texas history knowledge. Your donation will be forever recognized in the description of the map whenever it is accessed in the GLO’s online map database and future exhibitions.

If you do not own or have access to historic maps but would still like to help the GLO grow their map collection, you can donate funds to the Save Texas History Program. All donations made to the GLO are tax-deductible pursuant to Internal Revenue Code §170(c)(1).

To donate a map, or for more information, please contact GLO staff at archives@glo.texas.gov.

The Texas General Land Office Archives and Records Program is home to 36 million documents and over 45,000 maps and sketches that detail the history of the state’s public lands and is one of the premier cartographic resources for Texas. One of the agency’s goals is to develop the most comprehensive historic Texas map collection possible and to make it entirely available online. This ambitious objective relies upon partnering with generous history-loving members of the public to help grow the collection.