Jesuit Cartography in the Rockies: Pierre-Jean De Smet and the Mapping of Native Landscapes of the American Northwest

Abstract

In this paper, we study Jesuit mapmaking in North America in the period after the restoration of the Order (1814), when the Jesuits regained their important place as missionaries and explorers, playing a significant role in the mapping and territorialization of the United States. In the period between the 1830s and the 1850s, Flemish Jesuit Pierre-Jean De Smet mapped the territories of the future states of Iowa, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and South Dakota, as well as of the Canadian modern-states of Alberta and British Columbia. Apart from physical geography, he paid special attention to the human geography of the region, thus mapping Native American landscapes, US military installations, and other landmarks in the American Northwest. His maps gained considerable attention from the US Government and were thus used for updating official maps by the Topographic Corps and various state affairs documents.