Mexico, California and Texas, 1851

John Tallis’ Mexico, California and Texas (1851) is a small, decorative, beautifully hand-colored atlas map, drawn at the height of the California Gold Rush. This map was published in Tallis’ Illustrated Atlas from 1849–1853. John Tallis and Company published atlases from 1838 to 1851.[1]

Tallis’ map shows Texas almost at its largest configuration, which would stretch into Colorado and Wyoming. John Tallis, Mexico, California and Texas, London, Edinburgh & Dublin: J. Rapkin, 1851, Map #93779, Texana Foundation Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.

This particular map features pre-Mexican War boundaries and expands upon the earlier works of Cary and Arrowsmith. Texas is shown at almost its largest configuration, which would reach into Colorado and Wyoming along the Rio Grande. On this map, Texas reaches to the source of the Rio Grande. To represent its largest boundary, the panhandle would need to stretch to the 42nd parallel in present-day Wyoming.

The borders of the Mexican states are colorfully defined, and hundreds of towns and other features are named.

In Texas, major cities like Houston, Austin, Santa Fe, and San Antonio de Bexar are shown, as well as smaller towns, like Geneva, Nashville, and Cincinnati. Other features, such as forts, Indian villages, the range of the Comanche, mountain ranges, bays, and several coastal communities are also depicted.

There was some confusion regarding the naming of the modern Colorado River (“Red River”) and Red River (“Natchitoches River”). Large cities are marked in bold lettering, while smaller settlements and towns are italicized.

The Colorado River is the most prominent river featured; however, there appears to be some confusion, as it is also labeled as the Red River. The Red River, which traditionally represents the boundary with present-day Oklahoma is also shown, but with two names, including the Natchitoches River. According to a report made in 1852 by Randal B. Marcy of the United States War Department, this could be attributed to an historical habit of Mexican settlers and native tribes referring to many rivers with red or ruddy appearances as “Rio Colorado,” or “Red River.”

The ruins at Uxmal, Yucatán, an important ancient Mayan site, are depicted in one corner of the map.

Gold prospectors work a river in California during the mid-nineteenth century gold rush.

Vignettes include two scenes of Mexico and one of miners panning for gold. Views of the ruins of Uxmal, Yucatan; “Mexican peasantry,” and prospectors washing gold are illustrated in beautiful detail.

On the map itself, Tallis includes the goldfields of Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley, which were newly discovered gold districts in California. These districts are indicated with a gold line that runs almost the entire length of California.

Tallis’ Mexico, California and Texas was donated to the Texas General Land Office by the Texana Foundation in 2015 and is part of the Texana Foundation Collection.

[1] This map was typical of the many fine works that appeared in Tallis’ atlas, with decorative borders and attractive vignettes. This map was drawn and engraved by J. Rapkin, with vignettes by H. Warren and J. Rogers. Tallis’ maps are relatively small and are not rare, and were originally issued without color. Uncolored, the maps are relatively plain, but colorful additions make them much more appealing and add value. It was not uncommon for 19th-century libraries to commission colorists to “complete” the atlas. Because of the decorative style of the work, many regard Tallis’ maps as “the last bastion of English decorative cartography in the 19th century.” The London Printing and publishing Company of London and New York bought the rights for many Tallis maps in 1850 and continued publishing his Illustrated Atlas of the World until the mid-1850s.