Francis Bishop's 1871 River Maps

Utah Historical Quarterly

Vol. 37, 1969, No. 2

Francis Bishop's 1871 River Maps

EDITED BY W. L. RUSHO

MAP-MAKING WAS CONSIDERED important to Powell on both river expeditions, although the means employed in map preparation necessarily fell short of the optimum in engineering precision.

On the 1869 expedition Major Powell possessed practically a one hundred per cent monopoly on scientific or technical capability. Of the other men, who were apparently chosen for their ruggedness and ability to survive in the wilderness, probably not one had ever before read a barometer-altimeter or had prepared a highly detailed map. But since Powell could not do everything, he instructed O. G. Howland, a newspaperman from Denver, in the rudiments of map-making. As is well known, O. G. Howland was one of the three men who failed to survive the journey. He was killed by Indians when the three struck out overland from the canyon toward the Mormon settlements. Powell, in his diary, stated that the records of the expedition were kept in duplicate and that one set was sent out with the ill-fated Howland brothers and Bill Dunn.

When Captain Francis M. Bishop took over as map-maker for the 1871 expedition, he obviously had with him the surviving copy of Howland's 1869 map. This fact is apparent from Bishop's frequent diary references to the campsites of the first trip — campsites that he could have pinpointed only by reference to Howland's map. Just what Bishop or Powell did with Howland's map after the 1871-72 trip was over will probably never be known, since the map has not been located and there are no written references to its disposition.

Even the official copy of Bishop's map has been either lost or thrown away. Possibly the map had little usefulness to either the Smithsonian Institution or to Powell, since Professor Almon H. Thompson and his men soon made maps of the Colorado Plateau that were far superior to Bishop's. Fortunately, Bishop may have had some inkling of the insecure nature of government files, for when he was at Kanab he wrote in his diary entry for Monday, April 8, 1872: "Am through with my map; have only to trace out a copy for myself and then I shall pack it off for Washington."

When his son, Dr. W. DeLance Bishop, donated Bishop's private papers, journals, and miscellany to the Utah State Historical Society in 1951, among the items were six map sheets covering parts of the Green and Colorado rivers. Since Bishop sent his official maps to Washington, these six sheets at the Society are undoubtedly his personal copies.

Of the ten participants in Powell's 1871 river expedition, three specialized in topographic mapping. They were Almon H. Thompson, Stephen V. Jones, and Francis M. Bishop. A fourth, Frederick Dellenbaugh, began the voyage as an artist, but later was considered an aide to the topographers. Undoubtedly, Thompson was in charge of the mapmaking phase, not only because he was second-in-command of the whole expedition, but also because he was a competent scientific leader.

Stephen V. Jones is variously described as topographer and as assistant topographer. Throughout his diary, Jones wrote about preparing maps of the river, but his graphic products seem to have been lost, or possibly thrown away, some time after the voyage.

Thompson himself probably did not prepare any maps while on the voyage, but rather confined his efforts to directing the work of Jones and Bishop. In the years immediately after the trip, however, when Thompson prepared detailed topographic maps of the entire area, he probably referred to the river topography as set down by Jones and Bishop. Dellenbaugh described the method of taking the topography.

It was the duty of Prof. [Thompson] and Jones to make a traverse (or meander) of the river as we descended. They were to sight ahead at each bend with prismatic compasses and make estimates of the length of each sight, height of walls, width of stream, etc., and Cap [Bishop] was to put the results on paper.

As a result of this teamwork, Bishop's was probably the main map, whereas Jones's map may have served as a backup.

Although Bishop's maps are the first reasonably accurate maps ever drawn of the Green and Colorado rivers, and although they are now available to peruse, two drawbacks limit their usefulness. First, only six sheets are extant, whereas a complete set would probably include ten or eleven sheets. Whirlpool, Split Mountain, Desolation, Gray, and Labyrinth canyons, and the upper part of Glen Canyon are missing. (Grand Canyon is not shown because Bishop left the group at Lee's Ferry.)

The second drawback is the small and cramped writing on the map. Because of this small writing, only sample sections of the maps have been printed full size to show the appearance of the map and to suggest the type of information contained thereon.

One must not conclude that because the maps are sketchy and somewhat inaccurate, Bishop and Thompson lacked skill. A thorough triangulation mapping survey is a painstakingly slow operation and was out of the question for either of the Powell expeditions. What Bishop came up with as features on his map — a snake-like double line indicating the river, a few tributaries, plus some indication of prominent formations and major rapids — is about all that could be expected. That Bishop also entered campsites and noon stops, with dates, can be considered a bonus to historians.

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