Partie Occidentale Du Canada, Contenant Les Cinq Grands Lac, Avec Les Pays Criconvoisins

A fine example of Rigobert Bonne and Guilleme Raynal’s 1780 map of the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi Valley. *A map of considerable importance, this chart was constructed during a period of aggressive exploration into this region. *Explorers, seeking a “westward passage” to the Pacific, believed an inland water route was not only reasonable, but highly likely. With no concept that the vast barrier of the Rocky Mountains stood in their way, they mapped out the likely courses for this route, as depicted on this map. They believed one could pass through the Great Lakes and, roughly following the current US-Canada border, pass upriver to Rainey Lake (L. Tecamamiouen) and then, through another River, to the Lake of the Woods (Lac des Bois), then, via another river, to (though it does not appear on this map) Lake Winnipeg. Here the water route westward ends - though at the time they didn't know it. *Throughout this map, Bonne attempts to document rivers, mountains, forts, and American Indian tribes and villages with the most recent data obtainable. He identifies the lands of the Sioux, the Iroquois (Five Nations), the Algonquians, the Illinois, and many others. Chicago (Chicagou) and

Date

1780

Place

Canada

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

map

Original size

2,500 × 1,721 pixels

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