Google Earth Adds Historic 1814 Lewis and Clark Map

Google Earth has added a very cool new feature-- 16 historical maps from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.  To use the historical maps feature, the latest version of Google Earth is needed.  A free download of the beta version released on November 1st is available at  Google Earth.  Naturally I wanted to see the Lewis and Clark Map from 1814.  I tilted the view, added grid lines and zoomed fairly far out for this screen shot.  You can zoom right in and easily read all the notations in the historical map.  What is even more fascinating is that you can search for any modern location on the basic Google Earth map made from satellite images, and it will be pinpointed on the historic map. I searched for Butte, Montana and saw William Clark’s notation "Oat-la-shoot 430 souls." Nearby was Ordway River and Pryor’s Creek. You can hide the historic map layer and search the satellite image map to compare features.

This map was first published in the History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark,  the first publication of the journals in 1814.  This edition, known as the "Biddle Edition" may be seen at the Library of Congress American Memory website in "The First American West: the Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820."

The Lewis and Clark Road Trips book and website includes our own version of matching the historic campsites trail with  modern maps. 573 historical campsite locations, as determined by Professor Bob Bergantino of Montana Tech, are placed on topo maps in the book, and listed on spreadsheets. The spreadsheets will also be available online as of November 20, 2006. All of the locations are cross referenced to the journals.  This Google Earth map will now allow us to follow the map drawn by William Clark in 1810.

Posted by on 11/14/2006 at 09:46 PM

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