A Narrative Atlas of the Gunnison-Beckwith Survey for the Pacific Railroad, 1853-1854
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A Narrative Atlas of the Gunnison-Beckwith Survey for the Pacific Railroad, 1853-1854 A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Elbie Bentley August 2009 © 2009 Elbie Bentley. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled A Narrative Atlas of the Gunnison-Beckwith Survey for the Pacific Railroad, 1853-1854 by ELBIE BENTLEY has been approved for the Department of Geography and the College of Arts and Sciences by Margaret W. Pearce Assistant Professor of Geography Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT BENTLEY, ELBIE, M.A., August 2009, Geography A Narrative Atlas of the Gunnison-Beckwith Survey for the Pacific Railroad, 1853-1854 (136 pp.) Director of Thesis: Margaret W. Pearce The scientific exploration and documentation of the Pacific Railroad Surveys of the nineteenth century is a subject that has received little attention in historical cartography. Of the surveys, the Gunnison-Beckwith expedition produced a particularly intriguing report containing adventure, illustration, and topographic presentation. This research explores the representation of this significant historical event in an atlas. Drawing on the concept of the atlas as a narrative form, an atlas of maps was created which can be read like a novel. In doing so, the narrative was further structured to reflect the cartographic language of the nineteenth century topographic explorers, and recreated their world of incorporated illustrations, observation, and text within each map. This research clearly reveals the potential of the atlas in a narrative form and demonstrates the technique as both viable and useful for the representation of historical subjects. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Margaret W. Pearce Assistant Professor of Geography 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: My sincerest appreciation goes to my committee members, Margaret Pearce, Dorothy Sack and Timothy Anderson, for their encouragement and enthusiasm. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments: ............................................................................................................. 4 List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... 8 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 11 1.1 Statement of Purpose and Research Objectives ...................................................... 13 1.2 Summary of Research Structure ............................................................................. 14 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................... 16 2.1 Historical Cartography and the Atlas ...................................................................... 16 2.2 Alexander von Humboldt and the Incorporated World .......................................... 24 2.3 Structure of Nineteenth Century Cartographic Language ...................................... 32 Chapter 3: The Gunnison-Beckwith Surveys .................................................................. 36 3.1 Gunnison’s Survey near the Thirty-Eighth and Thirty-Ninth Parallels .................. 38 3.2 Beckwith’s Survey near the Forty-First Parallel ..................................................... 40 3.3 Topographical Work, Maps and Illustrations ......................................................... 42 3.3.1 Topographical Work ........................................................................................ 42 3.3.2 Maps ................................................................................................................. 43 3.3.3 Illustrations ...................................................................................................... 45 3.4 Reports .................................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 4: Methods .......................................................................................................... 52 6 4.1 Archival Resources and Data Collection ................................................................ 52 4.2 Interpretation of Narrative Form ............................................................................. 53 4.3 General Format Decisions ...................................................................................... 54 4.4 Development of Narrative Form in the Atlas ......................................................... 56 4.4.1 Story ................................................................................................................. 58 4.4.2 Discourse ......................................................................................................... 62 4.5 Elements of the Novel ............................................................................................. 74 4.5.1 Point of View .................................................................................................... 75 4.5.2 Plot ................................................................................................................... 76 4.5.3 Character ......................................................................................................... 80 4.5.4 Conflict ............................................................................................................. 81 4.5.5 Time and Space ................................................................................................ 82 4.5.6 Structure .......................................................................................................... 85 Chapter 5: Results ............................................................................................................ 88 5.1 Does the atlas as a narrative form be developed for the production of historical expedition atlases? ........................................................................................................ 88 5.2 Can an atlas of maps be organized to be read as a story, rather than as a reference, without sacrificing the data-rich quality of the reference book? .................................. 89 5.3 Can this narrative atlas be structured using the cartographic language of nineteenth century topographic explorers and use their method of incorporated maps, illustrations, and texts? ...................................................................................................................... 91 5.3.1 Structuring Story .............................................................................................. 92 7 5.3.2 Structuring Discourse ...................................................................................... 94 5.4 Can new cartographic techniques, informed by the technique of the nineteenth century topographers, be developed to support this narrative structure? ..................... 96 5.4.1 Combining Digital and Hand-Drawn Techniques ........................................... 97 5.4.2 Inconsistencies in Cartographic Representation ............................................. 99 Chapter 6: Discussion .................................................................................................... 101 6.1 Atlas as a Narrative Form ..................................................................................... 101 6.2 Exploring Cartographic Techniques in the Atlas Format ..................................... 103 6.3 Atlas Size and Data Density ................................................................................. 105 6.4 Use of Symbol to Develop Story .......................................................................... 107 6.5 Elements of the Novel ........................................................................................... 107 6.6 The Historical Atlas and the Historical Novel ...................................................... 108 Chapter 7: Conclusions .................................................................................................. 114 7.1 Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 114 7.2 Contribution .......................................................................................................... 115 7.3 Future Research .................................................................................................... 116 References ....................................................................................................................... 118 Appendix A: Atlas Images .............................................................................................. 121 8 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Summary of Narrative Elements ......................................................................57 9 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Thematic Map: A New Form of Integrated Data Representation. ..................26 Figure 2: Geographie der Pflanzen in den Tropen – Laendern: ein Naturgemalde der Anden. .............................................................................................................................27 Figure 3: Incorporated