This is A. J. Johnson’s beautifully hand colored first edition 1864 map of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, with parts of modern day Montana and Wyoming.  This map shows cities, topographical features, railways, ferries and roads with color coding at the county level.  Additionally shows important mountain passes, the route of famous explores including Fremont (1843), and the ill-conceived Stevens route for the Pacific Railroad.   The origins of this map can be traced to Johnson’s acquisition of J. H. Colton’s c. 1855 map plates.  Due to the rapidly changing political situation in the Pacific Northwest during the middle part of the 19th century, Johnson was forced to update his map of this region on an annual and sometimes semi-annual basis, thus making all editions extremely ephemeral.  This example follows the consolidation of Washington’s western border and the creation of somewhat indistinct Idaho and Dakota territories.  It also predates the exploration of the stunning Yellowstone Valley.   Published by A. J. Johnson and Ward as plate no. 65 in the 1864 edition of  Johnson’s New Illustrated Family Atlas . This is the first edition of the Johnson’s  Atlas  to bear the Johnson &amp; Ward imprint and the only edition to identify the firm as the “Successors to Johnson and Browning (Successors to J. H. Colton and Company)”.
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Alvin_J._Johnson" class="extiw" title="w:en:Alvin J. Johnson"><span title="19th century United-States cartographer">Alvin Jewett Johnson</span></a>
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1864 (undated)
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