Cartographic encounters : indigenous peoples and the exploration of the New World

In this reinterpretation of U.S. history, the author argues that, until now, writing about and popular understanding of the exploration and mapping of the New World has largely ignored the pivotal role played by indigenous people. Introduction: Creation myths and cartographic encounters ; Amerindian mappings -- Colonial cartographies: Encounters in a settled land ; Landings in a strange land -- Imperial cartographies: Surveying the West : Lewis and Clark and others ; Expedition into the 'desert' ; Fremont and Tah-Kai-Buhl ; 'Warren's map' ; Closing the frontier in the west -- Conclusions: Cartographic encounters in Australia ; Journey's end

There's no excuse for getting lost these days—satellite maps on our computers can chart our journey in detail and electronics on our car dashboards instruct us which way to turn. But there was a time when the varied landscape of North America was largely undocumented, and expeditions like that of Lewis and Clark set out to map its expanse. As John Rennie Short argues in Cartographic Encounters, that mapping of the New World was only possible due to a unique relationship between the indigenous inhabitants and the explorers.

In this vital reinterpretation of American history, Short describes how previous accounts of the mapping of the new world have largely ignored the fundamental role played by local, indigenous guides. The exchange of information that resulted from this "cartographic encounter" allowed the native Americans to draw upon their wide knowledge of the land in the hope of gaining a better position among the settlers.

This account offers a radical new understanding of Western expansion and the mapping of the land and will be essential to scholars in cartography and American history.

There's no excuse for getting lost these days—satellite maps on our computers can chart our journey in detail and electronics on our car dashboards instruct us which way to turn. But there was a time when the varied landscape of North America was largely undocumented, and expeditions like that of Lewis and Clark set out to map its expanse. As John Rennie Short argues in Cartographic Encounters , that mapping of the New World was only possible due to a unique relationship between the indigenous inhabitants and the explorers. In this vital reinterpretation of American history, Short describes how previous accounts of the mapping of the new world have largely ignored the fundamental role played by local, indigenous guides. The exchange of information that resulted from this "cartographic encounter" allowed the native Americans to draw upon their wide knowledge of the land in the hope of gaining a better position among the settlers. This account offers a radical new understanding of Western expansion and the mapping of the land and will be essential to scholars in cartography and American history. A re-interpretation of American history. It argues that both writing about and popular understanding of, the exploration and mapping of the New World has largely ignored the pivotal role played by indigenous people.