Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Maps of Definite Location for the CPRR and UPRR

From: "Bruce L. Jorgensen" blj@oh-pc.com

How do I obtain a copy of the Map or Maps of Definite Location for the CPRR and UPRR final constructed route of the transcontinental railroad which culminated with the "golden spike" at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869?

Also, where could I obtain a list of the odd numbered sections transferred to each RR company pursuant to the RR Acts of 1862 and 1864 upon the filing of the Maps of Definite Location? ...

Bruce L. Jorgensen
Olson & Hoggan, P.C.

7 Comments:

Blogger CPRR Discussion Group said...

The terminology "Maps of Definite Location" seems to appear mostly in Supreme Court decisions, rather than in the railroad literature. Does the following 1862 Pacific Railway Act §7 language provide the definition of "Maps of Definite Location"?:

The 1862 Pacific Railway Act §7 states "shall file a map of the same in the Department of the Interior ... ".

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF RAILROADS, MADE TO THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1883. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1883. "The map showing the definite location of the first 100 miles of road was filed in the General Land Office October 24, 1864. It was amended December 14, 1864. The map showing the location of the last or thirteenth hundred miles west from Omaha was filed January 8, 1869. Maps showing location of routes between Promontory Summit and Monument Point, Utah, were filed May 10, 1869. The dates of acceptance of completed sections by the President are as follows ... "

You might want to check if these filings became part of one of the railroad packages at National Archives.

Perhaps someone at a State BLM might be able to help.

3/09/2011 2:00 PM  
Blogger CPRR Discussion Group said...

From: "Rob Krantz" rmkrantz@pacbell.net

I am not familiar with these maps. He may want to contact the Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, NE. They have an historian that may be able to assist.

Robert Krantz
North Pacific Coast Company, San Ramon, CA

--------------------
[Robert M. Krantz was formerly of the SPRR Land Department.]

3/10/2011 10:06 AM  
Blogger CPRR Discussion Group said...

From: "RANDALL HEES" hees@astound.net

There are original location maps in the National Archive in College Park Maryland, as well as later ICC valuation survey maps (also in College Park, but possibly in local archives as well)

Land grant maps are likely also found there in the Dept of Interior records. An alternate source would be 19th century county atlases, which frequently show land ownership, but may show it under a holding company, and won’t show any land sold.

—Randy Hees

3/10/2011 11:11 AM  
Blogger CPRR Discussion Group said...

From: vandtrr@cs.com

Also: The book Over the Range – A History of the Promontory Summit Route of the Pacific Railroad by Richard V. Francaviglia (ISBN 978-0-87421-705-6) has many of the maps you are looking for but in reduced format. More importantly he lists the archives in which he found the original maps.

—Charlie Siebenthal

3/10/2011 12:11 PM  
Blogger CPRR Discussion Group said...

From: "Melissa Elizarde" d@oh-pc.com
Subject: 1886 Pacific railway Congressional Hearings map

I am trying to find a map, ... [of] "the completed Pacific Railway (CPRR and UPRR) as bound into the last volume of the 1886 Pacific Railway Congressional Hearings". Do you know where I may find a copy or more information about this particular map?

3/12/2011 3:04 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There were two maps bound into the last book [of the Central Pacific Railroad's copy of the Pacific Railroad Commission's 1887 Report].

3/12/2011 1:13 PM  
Blogger CPRR Discussion Group said...

The two maps bound into the Pacific Railroad Commission's 1887 Report are:

1) Diagram of the Transcontinental lines of road Showing the Original Central Pacific and Union Pacific And their Competitors. Prepared for the United States Pacific Railway Commission, 1887.

2) Map Showing the Pacific Railways and their Branches. Prepared for the United States Pacific Railway Commission. Prepared by G.W. & C.R. Colton & Co., 1887.

3/13/2011 10:43 AM  

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