BRN 9-2 (uncompressed) - Flipbook - Page 44
high were they, were there passes? Rivers were important:
how big were they, where did they run, were they
intermittent or perennial? Who was living on the land and
where?
Florida. It also shows the homeland of the Apaches
Mimbre–os. The location of major features was maturing but
not exact.
ÒThis map is said to represent the dawn of the modern
era of the scientiÞc understanding of physical
geography. It depicts the convoluted topography that
reveals the Southwest to be straddling a backbone of
two major mountain ranges and drained by a confusing
network of rivers and intermittent streams. Subsequent
scientiÞc observation reafÞrmed that the area was
divided longitudinally into a series of ridges and
valleys. This is not to say that Humboldt's map was
correct, for it contains a number of signiÞcant errors.
On Humboldt's map, even rivers that today we know
have more transverse courses seem to be constricted
horizontally because of the cartographic inability to
determine longitude effectively.
Their interests were more basic than those of current
travelers. Or perhaps it is simply a matter of scale. TodayÕs
traveler may be interested in the location of the next gas
station (or electrical charging station) and whether or not the
next town has a good restaurant. A traveler in the 1700s
was interested in the same basic thing, how many days or
weeks was it to the next small village, were the inhabitants
welcoming or hostile, was there some kind of food
available. Scale.
The natural history concerns, if there were any, during this
period were also more basic and generally focused on major
landforms and ecosystems. That is not to say that there were
not natural history surveys being made during the early
years of European occupation. Even the expeditions which
were focused on riches and empire noted natural history.
Despite certain errors, however, Humboldt's map
reminds us of a basic fact of the region's geography,
namely, that it is easier to traverse along north-south
than east-west lines. This helps to explain the pattern of
settlement in the Southwest for much of its history.
Even under Spanish rule the area was compartmentalized along north-south axes, such as the Rio
Grande in New Mexico and the Santa Cruz and San
Pedro River valleys in Arizona. The topography also
helps to explain the difÞculty that rational people have
in drawing lines around the region: there are no such
physiographic borders in the landscape.Ó*
1540-1542. The account of CoronadoÕs travels was written
by Pedro Reyes Casta–eda. There have been various
translations and interpretations of his work. ÒThe term ÔpinoÕ
was used by the chronicler of the expedition when
describing the trees observed. Reference was made to
Ôpillars of pineÕ, which may have been ponderosa pine, that
were used by the Pueblo Indians to construct footbridges.
Extensive montane pine forests in the region were
mentioned by Coronado, as they were by several
subsequent Spanish explorers in the late 1500s.Ó (Clevy
Lloyd Strout, 1971. ÒFlora and fauna mentioned in the
journals of the Coronado ExpeditionÓ, Great Plains Journal ll
(1): 5-40.)
______________
At this point we stop the survey of the historic maps of our
area. If this topic is of interest to you, please take a look at
Early Naturalists of the Black Range.
These early maps reßected what was known, easier to
fathom when we are looking at ÒoldÓ maps than when we
are looking at more modern ones, but always a truism. They
also reßect what was important to the mapmakers and map
users. During the early European era of our area, travelers
were trying to understand the basic geographic layout of
the land. They needed to understand the major topographic
characteristics. What was the nature of the mountain
ranges? Did they run south to north or west to east, how
*Richard Francaviglia, ÒElusive Land: Changing Geographic
Images of the SouthwestÓ, Essays on The Changing Images
of the Southwest, edited by Francaviglia and Narrett,
University of Texas at Arlington.
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