MAP: BOTANICAL PROFILE. REPRESENTING THE FOREST TREES ALONG THE ROUTE EXPLORED BY LIEUT. A.W. WHIPPLE, CORPS OF TOP. ENG. NEAR THE PARALLEL OF 35 NORTH LATTITUDE FROM FORT SMITH TO SAN PEDRO

Philadelphia, PA: Wagner McGuigan, 4 Franklin Place, Philadelphia, 1854. Chart. Good Plus. Large hand-colored chart (49 in. x 23 in), self-explanatory in title. Some edgewear, light toning and fold creases, but fully intact, scarce record of botanical findings compiled while surveying for the Pacific Railway Survey. "Expedition botanist John M. Bigelow kept the purpose of the Whipple expedition—finding a railroad route from the Mississippi to the Pacific—in the forefront of his mind while examining plants. He documented how different species could be an asset to the creation of the railroad, noting that Douglas spruce (Abies douglasii) was plentiful, and could be used to make railroad ties, "equal, if not superior, to those of any other wood in the West." The expedition was one of six major expeditions that traversed through different parts of the country in search of a promising railroad route. Twelve scientists, including Bigelow, traveled with the expedition party along the 35th parallel through modern-day Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Spencer Baird, assistant-secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, recommended Bigelow for the position of botanist on the expedition." (National Museum of Natural History)

The expedition was one of six major expeditions that traversed through different parts of the country in search of a promising railroad route. Twelve scientists, including (Dr. John Milton) Bigelow, traveled with the expedition party along the 35th parallel through modern-day Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Antoine Leroux, an experienced western guide knowledgeable of the Native American uses for plants, joined the expedition at Mojave territory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Mojaves helped the scientists collect botanical, biological, and geological specimens, and believed that the railroad would result in a valuable trade route spanning their territory..."
(National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.).