1845 Map of that Part of the Mineral Lands Adjacent to Lake Superior, Ceded to the United States by the Treaty of 1842 with the Chippewas

A monumental and highly detailed government survey of the Lake Superior mineral frontier, this map documents the vast copper-bearing lands ceded to the United States through the 1842 Treaty of La Pointe with the Chippewa (Ojibwe). Prepared under the direction of Gen. John Stockton, U.S. Agent, and Lieutenant Colonel George Talcott of the U.S. Ordnance Bureau, the map was compiled from federal surveys, hydrographic soundings, mining claims, and exploratory reports conducted during the opening years of the Lake Superior copper boom. Issued in Washington in 1845, it stands among the earliest comprehensive cartographic records of the mineral districts that would transform northern Michigan and Wisconsin into major centers of American mining and industrial expansion. The Lake Superior Copper Frontier The map focuses on the southern and western shores of Lake Superior, extending from Fond du Lac near present-day Duluth eastward through the Apostle Islands, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and Isle Royale. Hundreds of mining tracts and lease parcels are carefully plotted across the Keweenaw Peninsula, where some of the earliest commercially successful copper mines in the United States were established during the 1840s. Detailed annotations identify mineral locations, projected leases, disputed claims, harbors, river systems, and survey boundaries, reflecting the federal government’s active role in organizing and regulating mineral extraction in the region. Particularly striking is the extensive treatment of Isle Royale, whose rugged topography, harbors, reefs, and mining tracts are rendered in remarkable detail. The island had already attracted substantial mining speculation by the mid-1840s due to reports of native copper deposits. Nearby, the Apostle Islands are prominently shown along the southern shore of Lake Superior, serving as an important geographic reference point for navigation and trade across the lake. Hydrographic soundings and coastal contouring throughout the map demonstrate the increasingly scientific approach employed by government surveyors during this period. Indigenous Lands and the 1842 Treaty of La Pointe The map documents lands ceded to the United States through the 1842 Treaty of La Pointe, negotiated at Madeline Island in the Apostle Islands between representatives of the United States government and Ojibwe (Chippewa) leaders including the prominent chief Buffalo of the La Pointe Band. Acting on behalf of the United States were treaty commissioners Robert Stuart and Henry Rice, both deeply connected to the American Fur Company and the expanding commercial interests of the Upper Great Lakes. The treaty transferred an enormous territory surrounding Lake Superior, including the mineral-rich Keweenaw Peninsula and western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, regions that had already attracted national attention following reports of extensive native copper deposits. The agreement opened vast portions of the Lake Superior frontier to federal surveys, mining leases, commercial speculation, and American settlement during the opening years of the Upper Midwest copper boom. At the same time, Ojibwe communities retained important treaty rights to hunt, fish, and gather throughout the ceded territory, while continuing to inhabit and travel across much of the region. The map preserves this transitional landscape through labels such as “Chippewa Indians,” “Indian Territory,” “State of Michigan,” and “Wisconsin Territory,” visually documenting the rapidly shifting political geography of the Upper Great Lakes. The expanding grid of numbered mineral tracts across the Keweenaw Peninsula, together with references to fur camps, survey encampments, and frontier settlements, conveys the accelerating pace of American expansion and mineral exploitation that followed immediately after the treaty. Camps, the Fur Trade, and the Northern Wilderness Scattered throughout the map are numerous references to frontier encampments, trading activity, and natural resources that illuminate daily life in the Upper Great Lakes wilderness during the 1840s. Along the St. Louis River appears the notation “American Fur Camp,” referencing the long-standing presence of the American Fur Company and the fur trade networks established decades earlier under John Jacob Astor. Before the rise of large-scale mining, the fur trade formed the principal economic system of the region, linking Indigenous communities, voyageurs, and trading posts across the Great Lakes watershed. Another fascinating notation identifies “Fine Maple Land” in northern Wisconsin Territory, likely referring to valuable stands of sugar maple timber prized for both lumber and maple sugar production. Such references reveal that the region’s economic potential extended beyond copper alone and included timber, transportation corridors, fisheries, and commercial trade routes. The lower right vignette depicts “Camp Gray, October 11th 1845, near Talcott Harbor,” an important temporary survey encampment associated with the federal mineral surveys overseen by Andrew Belcher Gray and George Talcott. Talcott Harbor itself became one of several key anchorages supporting early mineral exploration along the Keweenaw coast. Scarcity of the Map Examples of this important Lake Superior survey are scarce on the market and are seldom encountered outside institutional collections. Recorded holdings are known at institutions including the University of Texas at Arlington, Northwestern University, the University of Notre Dame, and the Boston Public Library’s Leventhal Map Center, with relatively few additional examples traced in private hands or the antiquarian trade.