California Lost Mines and Ghost Towns

California’s Wild West identity distilled into one cartographic image.

This marvelous map of California combines the early history of the state from the Spanish colonizers to the mid-19th century into one distinctive image. The content, emphasizing ghost towns, gold mines, military forts, and Spanish missions, was heavily influenced by the 20th-century representation of the Wild West. The illustrated scenes could be lifted directly from a spaghetti Western, and the variety of place names included would make Louis L’Amour proud.

The map was drawn by Andy Dagosta of Pasadena, California. Born in Nebraska, Dagosta was a talented illustrator, WWII aviator, and avid consumer of all western pop culture. He co-founded the American Indian and Cowboy Artist Association and issued at least three other similar maps of western states during the 1960s.