Maps & Documents used on sworegon.org are selected from display materials provided by museums, institutions and individuals for the Coos County Fairgrounds Museum and from publicly available sources.  This site provides links to original sources and references to resources for further study.

 
 

Maps indicate the values held by their makers. Old maps provide a guide to the history & heritage of our region, “The Land of the Oregon Myrtle.”


Early maps of Southwestern Oregon show an interest in gold, transportation, personal safety, relative location and place names.  Sometimes the mapmakers respect historic and native information, sometimes the mapmakers take notice of landmarks, land form and vegetation.  Primarily these maps indicate why the mapmakers came to Oregon and why they might return:


*** for profit, ***for gold,  and eventually ***for a new place to live. 


Maps are far more than cartography, that is maps are more than diagrams and directions.  Maps include analysis and mythos, discovery and belief.  For instance, maps include words and impressions.


Oregon is named for the big winds that blow there. Early explorer maps of Northwest North America are  often marked with Mackenzie’s word Orkan or the French Ouragan which also became the English word hurricane. 






















Some comments about the maps from users:   “Very impressive signature on the 1863 map.”  “The prospectors did not tell any more about the lay of their claim than they needed to to file their claims.” “Town names sure change often.  “Empire City!  It is strange to see it ranking notice equivalent to or above any West Coast City other than San Francisco.” “The rivers have changed outflow by miles, the mouth of the Coquille was sometimes way north of Bandon.”



 

These images are intentionally adjusted to screen resolution and are not intended to be printed. Many items have restricted usage and you are kindly reminded to observe copyright law.  Please visit and support the David Rumsey Collection of Maps, excerpts of which include the Vancouver Charts below.


Notice from the Rumsey site:  These historical cartographic images are part of the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, a large collection of online antique, rare, old, and historical maps, atlases, globes, charts, and other cartographic items. Read more about the Collection. Or you can view the entire David Rumsey Map Collection in Insight.


Images copyright © 2000 by Cartography Associates. Images may be reproduced or transmitted, but not for commercial use. For commercial use or commercial republication, contact carto@luna-img.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. By downloading any images from this site, you agree to the terms of that license.


Our sworegon slideshows present a visual overview of history, heritage and culture.


To study larger images double click an image thumbnail below.  From there you can navigate using the filmstrip overview above the image or by using the Next and Previous buttons below. 


You may also run the slideshow which uses medium sized images.  You may pause it and jump around, too.


If you wish to be notified when we add images, click Subscribe for our RSS feed.


Copyright © 1995-2010

Steven S. Means.

Disclaimer: the errors are mine, contact me and I will fix things. stevenmeans@mac.com.






These maps are presented as an online album.  There are several ways to view the maps.  Sometimes the user must scroll down to find the maps.


For instance, on this page scrolling down will show dozens of small images and provide an overview of the first 100 maps available.  Clicking on the digit “2” at the very bottom will bring another page of maps.


The slideshow option produces an automatically advancing slideshow which can be controlled by a magically appearing filmstrip above each image or by a VCR like control below. 


Scholars and students who wish more detailed views must approach the images through a different path.  From the main album, select and double click any particular image.  Scroll down to find a medium size version of that image.


Selecting download triggers a new window with a high quality image suitable for group viewing as well as deep study.


The RSS option makes it possible for any user to be notified when a new map image is posted to these albums.


The map images on this site are seldom the entire original image.  This site uses selections of larger maps to focus on the Pacific Northwest and especially on Southwest Oregon, that is on the Land of the Oregon Myrtle which is served by the Coos County Fairgrounds Museum.

Read
these directions and try the features of these online albums. If confused, 
call Steve 
for help,
541-260-1457
or 
email him.
stevemeans@webenet.net
mailto:stevemeans@me.com?subject=mapping%20history%20helpshapeimage_2_link_0