Freshwater Passages: The Trade and Travels of Peter Pond

11. Observing the Northwest

207 CHAPTER ELEVEN Observing the Northwest The Congress Map Sometime in the late winter of 1785 Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, the French consul to New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, sat at a desk or table, likely at his home in New York City, making a copy of a remarkable new map of North America. He titled it a “Copy of a Map Presented to the Congres by Peter Pond a Native of Milford in the State of Connecticut.” Crèvecoeur, who had recently found success with the publication of his Letters from an American Farmer,had a passion for North America and had traveled the land widely. He was also a trained surveyor and mapmaker who had used his skills on excursions as far north as the Ottawa River and as far west as the Mississippi, but never into most of the regions depicted in Pond’s map. He had apparently recently met Pond, whom he described in his caption.“This Extraordinary Man has resided 17 Years in those Countries & from his own discoveries as well as from Reports of Indians he assures himself of having at last discovered a Passage to the N.O. Sea.”Pond must have returned to Connecticut for a visit, but he had not stayed long, for Crèvecoeur adds,“he is gone again to ascertain some Important Observations.”¹ The original map that Crèvecoeur worked from as he made his copy that day has never been discovered; rather, all our knowledge of it comes through the version made by the French consul,completed and dated on 208 ∙ observing the northwest March 1,1785.Crèvecoeur made it to send to a friend and patron in France, the Duke de la Rochefoucauld. Pond drew the original map during the winter of 1783–84 at his trading post on the Athabasca River. Presumably, he presented it to the United States Congress, as Crèvecoeur’s caption indicates,but there is no other record of this.It was apparently lost during the early years of that institution, which still lacked a permanent home. Perhaps at first glance no one other than Crèvecoeur thought Pond’s map worth saving, for on the surface it may have looked like the work of a man with limited cartographic skill. Crèvecoeur observed that the original was “encumbered by a great deal of writing,” which, knowing Pond’s spelling, probably made it look amateurish or sloppy. St. Peter R. Missigan L. L. Huron Fall St. Marie Ohio R. I l l i n o i s R . York Part of Hudsons Bay Churchill Wood L. Red R. Missoury R. N o r t h R . New Mexico Ste Fe Assabena R. 3 Sugar Loaf Mount L. Cumberland Flat head Indians Country Naberkistagan R. South Sea Ochipoins Country & Road to Churchill Mer du Nord West Rabbit Indians Country Red Knife Indians Country Slave L. Great Cave R. Arabosca English R. Arabosca R Poskwear R. 5 25 50 75100 125 Lieües Francoises au degré 10 9 8 14 17 5 19 18 12 11 15 16 24 26 25 90 85 80 22 135 115 110 105 100 95 75 70 65 6 7 2o COPY of a Map Presented To the Congres by Peter Pond a Native of Milford in 17 Years in those Countries & from his own the State of CONNECTICUT This Extraordinary Man has resided discoveries as well as from the Reports of gone again to ascertain Some important Indians he Assures himself of having at last Pond’s Congress Map. Part of ye Californian Sea observations New York 1st March 1785 discovered a Passage To the N. O. Sea; he is Salt L. map 9. Pond’s Congress Map. A redrawn overview of the Congress Map, with much of the writing omitted for clarity. Crevecoeur reported that he left out much of Pond’s writing when he copied Pond’s original map. This version omits much of what Crevecoeur retained so that what remains can be legibly reproduced in a smaller format. The shape of geographical features remains faithful to the original, as does the spelling. Traced from the copy at the British Library. observing the northwest ∙ 209 The subject of the map,of course,was North America,with an emphasis on the parts north and west of the Great Lakes. On the eastern or righthand portion Pond drew Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior, and...