The Atlas Maps of Nebraska by S.A. Mitchell and C. Desilver, 1855-1860
Publication Chronology of
“A New Map of Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, and Indian Territories.”
From Samuel Augustus Mitchell’s New Universal Atlas, published by Charles Desilver
1st Edition, First state (1855): First appearance. *Map was not included in all copies of the Universal Atlas; most likely, it was printed for a “second run.” It is not listed in the Table of Contents in either its first or second state.* Copyright date 1850 (Cowperthwait, not Desilver), no page number; latticework border colored green, with an open inner border in pink. Slight western 'bulge' in Nebraska at the Three Forks of the Missouri. Very few towns in eastern Kansas, which appears to be the only difference between it and the second state for 1855. NOTE: The UA of 1854 shows Nebraska and Kansas on its US map in some copies, but not on others, indicative of the “race” between cartographers to get new information out as soon as possible.
1st Edition, Second State (1856?): Copyright date 1850 (Cowperthwait), no page number; latticework border colored green, with an open inner border in pink. Slight western 'bulge' in Nebraska. Counties colored in New Mexico on some sheets, not on others; in the latter case, the inner border is also uncolored. Towns added in eastern Kansas, including Topeka and Atchison.
2nd Edition, First state (1857?): Copyright date 1856 (Desilver, not Cowperthwait; oddly, this appears to have been “pasted over” the old Cowperthwait copyright by the lithographer). Aside from this, identical to second state of 1st edition. A pocket edition, with a thicker block border, exists for this year.
1857: Copyright date 1856 (Desilver) with a new, scrollwork border; otherwise identical (other than now having a “38” in the upper right-hand corner) to 2nd Edition, first state. Small western 'bulge' in Nebraska. Counties in New Mexico not separately colored. Settlements in Nebraska same: Omaha City, Florence, Council Bluff, and Bellevue.
1858: Copyright date 1856 (Desilver) with scrollwork border, page 38. Borders of Nebraska generally the same, but western border has much more pronounced “bulge” to encompass the whole of the Three Forks of the Missouri. Many new towns indicated in eastern Nebraska and Kansas; for the former, DeSoto, Nebraska City, Nemahaw, Wyoming, Lawrence, and Nebraska Centre. A notation above the forks of the Platte of “Gen. Harney’s Fight With the Indians Sept 3rd 1855” added.
1859: Copyright date 1859 (Desilver) with scrollwork border, page no. 38. Borders of Nebraska same, but county borders in eastern Nebraska have been added. In western Kansas, running on a curve through the “K,” is “Gold Region.” This Universal Atlas for this year now adds a two-age map of Kansas (with southern Nebraska visible to the Platte River) by W.H. Holmes to reflect interest in the to-be-Colorado Gold Rush.
1860: Copyright date 1859 (Desilver / ?) with scrollwork border, page no. 38. Nebraska borders and information identical to 1859 edition. Publication may have been picked up by another individual or group, as one example comes from a “Cushings and Bailey.”
REFERENCE:
Croft, B & C. Maps of Nebraska.