County Map of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming

The territories of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming in the mid-1870s

This eye-catching map of the Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming Territories presents all three western regions over a decade prior to statehood. Vibrant original color, applied by hand, highlights each territory and the prospective counties or Native American reservations within. Yellowstone National Park, established just a few years prior to publication, is prominently shaded in green.

Topography is shown in simple hachure and reflects a rugged terrain with numerous named mountain peaks, ranges, buttes, and passes. The Black Hills can be seen on the far right – the theater of the Great Sioux War of 1876. Other toponyms identify forts, missions, Indian villages, weather sources (springs and wells), and gold mines – a fascinating microcosm of contemporary concerns for the American audience.

Also of interest is the transportation network. The tracks of the Union Pacific, completed in 1869 as the first Transcontinental Railroad in the U.S., met with the Central Pacific at the marked site in Utah near Promontory Point. A proposed route for the Northern Pacific, plus several branches, can be seen running through Montana and Idaho.