Texas Takes Shape - A History in Maps From the General Land Office

A comprehensive volume on historical mapping in Texas.

List of contents

• List of Maps
• Foreword by Dawn Buckingham
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part I. Defining Texas
  • Chapter 1. Mapping the New World: An Age of Discovery
  • Beyond the Neatline—Uncovering the Base Layer: Indigenous Cartography in North America
  • Chapter 2. Competing Empires: Maps as Knowledge and Power, 1671–1830
  • Beyond the Neatline—Compasses and Crucifixes: Priests and Friars in the Mapping of Spanish North America
  • Chapter 3. Mapping Mexico: Uneven Geography
  • Beyond the Neatline—From the “Dead Desert” to the “Wonderland of Agriculture and Opportunity”: Mapping the Nueces Strip 000:
  • Chapter 4. The Lone Star Rises: Maps of the Republic of Texas, 1835–1846
  • Beyond the Neatline—”A continued succession of abrupt sinuousities”: The Joint Boundary Commission and the Republic of Texas, 1838–1841
  • Chapter 5. “The Republic of Texas is no more”: The Lone Star State Takes Shape
  • Beyond the Neatline—The Art and Cartography of Eltea Armstrong
• Part II. Developing Texas
  • Chapter 6. Contested Frontier: Pathfinders, Soldiers, and Military Maps
  • Beyond the Neatline—Land for Military Service: Bounty, Donation, and Confederate Scrip
  • Chapter 7. Connecting a Continent: Texas Land and the Expanding American Railroad System
  • Beyond the Neatline—Frontier Surveying in Texas
  • Chapter 8. All Boundaries Are Local: GLO County Maps
  • Beyond the Neatline—Drawing Conclusions: Manuscript Cartouches in the GLO
  • Chapter 9. The Growth and Urbanization of Texas: City Maps at the GLO
  • Beyond the Neatline—”Complete Success” to Obsolescence: The Photographic Bureau of the GLO, 1861–1874
• Conclusions. Texas History on the Digital Frontier: Improving Access through Preservation
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index
• About the Authors




About the author










Mark Lambert is the Senior Deputy Director for Heritage at the Texas General Land Office. James Harkins is the Deputy Director of Archives and Records. Brian A. Stauffer is the Director of Public Services and the author of Victory on Earth or in Heaven: Mexico’s Religionero Rebellion. Patrick Walsh is a research specialist.

Product details

• Authors: James Harkins, Mark Lambert, Mark (EDT)/ Harkins Lambert, Mark Harkins Lambert, Brian A Stauffer, Patrick Walsh
• Assisted by: James Harkins (Editor), Mark Lambert (Editor), Brian A Stauffer (Editor), Patrick Walsh (Editor)
• Publisher: University Of Texas Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 01.07.2025
• EAN: 9781477330920
• ISBN: 978-1-4773-3092-0
• No. of pages: 360
• Subject: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous