{"id":14433,"date":"2014-03-06T22:46:18","date_gmt":"2014-03-06T22:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/173.230.141.246\/dcc\/wpdemo\/?p=14433"},"modified":"2025-06-11T16:34:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T16:34:53","slug":"commodities-and-the-transformation-of-the-american-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/?p=14433","title":{"rendered":"Commodities and the Transformation of the North American Landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Essay<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Introduction<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The contemporary North American landscape of cities, suburbs, and malls; highways, rails, and controlled rivers; fields, and fences; and factories, mines, and ports is the product of a long process of extraction, production, and exchange of natural resources: their transformation into commodities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_83413-2\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1_detail.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1_detail-1024x396.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1_detail-1024x396.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1_detail-300x116.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1_detail-600x232.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1_detail-768x297.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1_detail-1536x594.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1_detail.jpg 1742w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_83413-2\" target=\"_blank\">C<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_83413-2\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1_detail.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">.V. Sciepcevich, &#8220;A Great Commercial Edifice &#8211; The New Home of the American Express Company in Chicago&#8221; in <em>The Landowner,<\/em> detail (1874). Full image below<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Commodities<\/em> are traditionally defined as objects possessing economic value. The significance of commodities to human societies can be traced as far back as one can look. Many of the oldest known written human laws concern the fair and just exchange of commodities. During the industrial revolution, a variety of important commodities came to visibly define how and where humans worked. A map of an industrialized region, for instance, might trace the life of a commodity such as a machine from its extraction in an iron mining community to its production and fabrication in a steel town, and distribution and exchange through various commercial centers, often ports. Making sense of commodity-dominated modern lives and managing the distribution of commodities became the primary issues around which some of the most influential ideologies of the last century\u2014capitalism and communism\u2014were theorized. Together, these facts underscore the significance of commodities and how we understand them in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p><strong>The contemporary North American landscape is the product of a long process of extraction, production, and exchange of natural resources: their transformation into commodities.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Economic historians are trained to think of human history in terms of the economic value that is extracted from the earth or from human labor, and from which further value is produced and exchanged over time. In the same vein, anthropologists have categorized early human societies in terms of extraction, production, and exchange. This categorization identifies a broad sweep of a human history understood in terms of transitions from hunting and gathering societies to agricultural, commercial, and industrial societies. How we extract, produce, and exchange economic value, these scholars reveal, helps to explain where we are in history, where we are on the surface of the earth, and perhaps even who we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_601366\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"491\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-1024x491.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-1024x491.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-300x144.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-600x288.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-768x368.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-1536x737.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail.jpg 1716w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_601366\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Marie Adrien Persac, <em>Norman&#8217;s Chart of the Lower Mississippi<\/em>, detail &#8220;Baton Rouge&#8221; (1858). Full image below.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Convinced that studying the landscape offers a unique perspective on human history, especially at the local and regional level, a number of geographers and historians have recently sought to visually interpret the landscape as a source of historical evidence. Historians such as William Hoskins and Marc Bloch and, more recently, geographers such as Pierce Lewis and Donald Meinig have suggested studying human life by exploring the landscape on foot. Yet we might also consider studying human life through visual representations of landscape, such as maps. Maps, like commodities, are as old as history itself. They have been used for land and sea navigation; claiming territories and boundaries; studying landforms, seas, and weather patterns; locating, managing, and conserving natural resources, as well as extracting those resources and producing and exchanging them as commodities. The form, scale, and content of many maps can often be interpreted in terms of these uses, giving a sense of economic regions, where human life and work has become arranged along sites of extraction, production, and exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The following collection of documents brings together maps, illustrations, and other materials from a range of periods and places in order to explore how natural resources become commodities and how the extraction, production, and exchange of those commodities has shaped the American landscape and its history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Essential Questions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What makes something a commodity?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Can we find visual evidence of extraction, production, and exchange in images or maps? What kinds of things do we look for?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What might the history of our extraction, production, and exchange of commodities tell us about how we understand, value, or treat our environment?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What might thinking of human history in terms of the extraction, production, and exchange of commodities teach us about who we are? How does such an approach complement and complicate other approaches, like national history or political history?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Regions of Extraction, Production, and Exchange<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1909 the U.S. Department of Commerce released an extensive report on the current state of domestic waterborne transportation. The report revealed a decline in traffic on rivers and canals, but a significant increase in the amount of freight being transported via \u201cdeep waters,\u201d like the Great Lakes. Most of that freight was bulk freight: raw materials and low-grade products that were easy to ship over water in large, heavy loads. The Great Lakes offered an efficient link between sites of extraction, such as iron ore deposits around Lake Superior, and industrial and commercial centers in port cities like Chicago. By connecting the locations and processes of extraction, production, and exchange, the Great Lakes waterways fostered a distinct economic region. Indeed, by the time the Department of Commerce released its report, the Great Lakes of North America had emerged as the continent\u2019s primary manufacturing region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_742776-2\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"760\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-1024x760.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13483\" style=\"width:304px;height:225px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-1024x760.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-scaled-600x445.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-768x570.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-1536x1140.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-2048x1520.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_742776-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">United States Bureau of Corporations, <em>Report of the Commissioner of<\/em> Corpor<em>ations on Transportation by Wate<\/em>r, &#8220;Movement of Iron Ore on the Great Lakes, 1897 and 1907&#8221; (1909)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rich iron ore deposits in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota supplied much of the raw material sustaining the Great Lakes manufacturing region, and helped make the United States the world\u2019s leading producer of iron ore. In the late nineteenth century, more than 80 percent of the iron ore extracted in the country traveled across the Great Lakes on its way to ironworks in industrial centers like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Department of Commerce captured the iron industry\u2019s growth in the first map below, which accompanied its report of waterborne transportation. Arrows show the direction of movement as well as the relative difference in the amount of iron shipped in 1897 and 1907.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_742776\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"766\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Grain-and-Flour_map-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13482\" style=\"width:300px;height:225px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Grain-and-Flour_map-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Grain-and-Flour_map-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Grain-and-Flour_map-scaled-600x449.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Grain-and-Flour_map-768x574.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Grain-and-Flour_map-1536x1149.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Grain-and-Flour_map-2048x1532.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_742776\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">United States Bureau of Corporations, <em>Report of the Commissioner of Corporations on Transportation by Water,<\/em> &#8220;Movement of Flour on the Great Lakes, 1897 and 1907&#8221; (1909)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just as the proximity of iron ore deposits to the Great Lakes made waterborne transportation the easiest and most economical means of getting the ore to ironworks, the movement of grain production and markets away from the Lakes in the same period contributed to a decline in the amount of flour moving over the Lakes. Instead of waterborne transportation, a growing number of producers began shipping grain and flour by rail, a shift reflected in the second map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Railroads siphoned some waterborne traffic, but also helped to knit the Great Lakes economic region together. Port cities like Cleveland, Ohio facilitated the movement of commodities by linking waterborne transportation on the Lakes to the nation\u2019s expanding railway system. Cleveland, situated along the shores of Lake Erie, thus became one of the leading lake ports in the late nineteenth century. The final source below, a table from the Department of Commerce report, reveals the variety and abundance of commodities that passed through the city between 1894 and 1906, traffic expedited by modern dockside machinery that helped workers quickly load and unload vessels moored at the port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_742776-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Selection:  United States Bureau of Corporations, <em>Report of the Commissioner of Corporations on Transportation by Water,<\/em> &#8220;Table 181&#8211;Lake and Rail Commerce at Cleveland,&#8221; 234-235 (1909).<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-13484\" data-id=\"13484\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-640x1024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-640x1024.jpg 640w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-scaled-300x480.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-scaled-600x959.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-188x300.jpg 188w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-768x1228.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-961x1536.jpg 961w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-1281x2048.jpg 1281w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-scaled.jpg 1601w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">United States Bureau of Corporations, Report of the Commissioner of Corporations on Transportation by Water, &#8220;Table 181&#8211;Lake and Rail Commerce at Cleveland,&#8221; 234 (1909)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"645\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18198\" data-id=\"18198\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p235-645x1024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p235-645x1024.jpg 645w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p235-scaled-300x476.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p235-scaled-600x952.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p235-189x300.jpg 189w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p235-768x1219.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p235-968x1536.jpg 968w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p235-1291x2048.jpg 1291w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p235-scaled.jpg 1613w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 645px) 100vw, 645px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">United States Bureau of Corporations, Report of the Commissioner of Corporations on Transportation by Water, &#8220;Table 181&#8211;Lake and Rail Commerce at Cleveland,&#8221; 235 (1909)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Questions to Consider<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Compare the volume of iron ore movement across the Great Lakes in 1897 to that of 1907. What differences do you notice? How might changes in the volume of trade affect the region as a whole?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How did the volume of flour transported across the Lakes change between 1897 and 1907? How do those changes compare to the movement of iron ore in the same period?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trace the routes iron ore and flour shipments took across the Great Lakes. Where were these commodities coming from? Where were they going? How did iron ore and flour link different parts of the Great Lakes region together?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Examine the articles listed in the table of Cleveland\u2019s lake and rail commerce. What kinds of commodities passed through the port city? Which commodities became more integral to Cleveland\u2019s economy between 1894 and 1906? Which commodities became less important?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How might the movement of commodities into and out of Cleveland have affected that city\u2019s development or physical landscape? What role does the port city of Cleveland seem to play within the larger Great Lakes region?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How did the movement of commodities across the Great Lakes contribute to the shape of that region, or the communities it contained? What is a region? How do we identify it?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Layers of Extraction<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_84406\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1004\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-1004x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13489\" style=\"width:250px;height:255px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-1004x1024.jpg 1004w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-scaled-300x306.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-scaled-600x612.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-294x300.jpg 294w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-768x783.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-1506x1536.jpg 1506w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-2008x2048.jpg 2008w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1004px) 100vw, 1004px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_84406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">J.C. Tinball, &#8220;Ancient Mining on Lake Superior,&#8221; in <em>Historical and Statistical Information, Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States <\/em>(1855)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The process of extracting commodities from the land often occurred in waves; when one commodity became depleted, focus shifted to another. As the documents in this section suggest, these waves of extraction were often linked\u2014layered on top of what came before. Clearing an area of timber, for instance, could facilitate later extraction of mineral resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The items below, details of a larger map of the <em>Mineral Lands<\/em> around Lake Superior, place the pursuit of commodities into its territorial context. These <em>Mineral Lands<\/em> contained rich deposits of metal ores, essential elements in the processes of industrialization and urbanization. When manufactured into iron and steel, these metal ores also made it possible to construct the railroads involved in mass settlement of the continent. <em>Mineral Lands<\/em> had to be formally ceded to the United States by treaty with the indigenous nations already there in order for their potential wealth as commodities to be developed on a mass scale by U.S. interests. J. C. Tidball\u2019s illustration of indigenous mining around Lake Superior, prepared for an 1855 Bureau of Indian Affairs report on American Indians, underscores how late nineteenth-century mining around Lake Superior constituted only the most recent layer of extraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_917092\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Selection: Andrew Belcher Gray and George Talcott, <em>Map of that Part of the<\/em> <em>Mineral Lands<\/em> <em>Adjacent to Lake Superioer Ceded to the United States in 1842<\/em>, (1845).<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"843\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-14109\" data-id=\"14109\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-1024x843.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-1024x843.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-300x247.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-scaled-600x494.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-768x632.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-1536x1264.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-2048x1686.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Andrew Belcher Gray and George Talcott, Map of That Part of the Mineral Lands Adjacent to Lake Superior Ceded to the United States in 1842 (1845)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"630\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18225\" data-id=\"18225\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_title_detail-1024x630.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_title_detail-1024x630.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_title_detail-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_title_detail-scaled-600x369.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_title_detail-768x473.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_title_detail-1536x946.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_title_detail-2048x1261.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Andrew Belcher Gray and George Talcott, Map of That Part of the Mineral Lands Adjacent to Lake Superior Ceded to the United States in 1842, detail of title (1845)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"695\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18224\" data-id=\"18224\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_Keewaiwona-Point_detail-1024x695.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_Keewaiwona-Point_detail-1024x695.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_Keewaiwona-Point_detail-300x204.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_Keewaiwona-Point_detail-scaled-600x407.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_Keewaiwona-Point_detail-768x521.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_Keewaiwona-Point_detail-1536x1042.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_Keewaiwona-Point_detail-2048x1390.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Andrew Belcher Gray and George Talcott, Map of That Part of the Mineral Lands Adjacent to Lake Superior Ceded to the United States in 1842, detail of Keewaiwona Point (1845)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"872\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18223\" data-id=\"18223\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_illustration_detail-1024x872.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_illustration_detail-1024x872.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_illustration_detail-300x255.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_illustration_detail-scaled-600x511.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_illustration_detail-768x654.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_illustration_detail-1536x1308.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Talcott_Map-of-Mineral-Lands_illustration_detail-2048x1743.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Andrew Belcher Gray and George Talcott, Map of That Part of the Mineral Lands Adjacent to Lake Superior Ceded to the United States in 1842, &#8220;Camp Gray, October 1st 1844, near Talcott Harbor&#8221; (1845)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Walter Loomis Newberry\u2019s map of his land holdings in the Fox River Valley of Wisconsin highlights a local chapter of the harvesting of lumber across the continent. Drawn around 1860, at the dawn of the Great Lakes logging boom of the late nineteenth century, the map ties that commodity to a specific physical environment. Streams abutting Newberry\u2019s land, for instance, would serve a crucial function in transporting the timber harvested there to mills for processing into lumber as well as markets for consumption. Annotations in the margins list \u201cTotal Vallue [sic] of Timber,\u201d arranged by subsections, tree species, and projected cordage and market prices. In this map, land itself becomes a commodity, as its real estate value at this time becomes based in the value of timber it contains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_102450\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Selection: Map of the Estate of Walter Loomis Newberry in Outagamie County, Wisconsin (1860).<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"739\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-13492\" data-id=\"13492\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry-1024x739.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry-1024x739.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry-scaled-600x433.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry-768x554.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry-1536x1108.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry-2048x1477.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Estate of Walter Loomis Newberry in Outagamie County, Wisconsin (1860)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"558\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18227\" data-id=\"18227\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail-558x1024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail-558x1024.jpg 558w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail-scaled-300x550.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail-scaled-600x1100.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail-164x300.jpg 164w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail-768x1408.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail-838x1536.jpg 838w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail-1117x2048.jpg 1117w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail-scaled.jpg 1396w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 558px) 100vw, 558px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Estate of Walter Loomis Newberry in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, description and image (1860)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"247\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18228\" data-id=\"18228\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_table_detail-247x1024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_table_detail-247x1024.jpg 247w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_table_detail-scaled-300x1245.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_table_detail-scaled-600x2489.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_table_detail-768x3186.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_table_detail-370x1536.jpg 370w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_table_detail-494x2048.jpg 494w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_table_detail-scaled.jpg 617w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 247px) 100vw, 247px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Estate of Walter Loomis Newberry in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, &#8220;Total Value of Timber&#8221; (1860)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"309\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18226\" data-id=\"18226\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-1024x309.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-1024x309.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-300x91.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-scaled-600x181.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-768x232.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-1536x464.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-2048x619.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Estate of Walter Loomis Newberry in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, &#8220;Total Amount of Timber&#8221; (1860)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Surveyors for the Ontario Department of Mines prepared the map below in the early twentieth century, between distinct waves of extraction in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The area depicted has been logged, and shows the vestiges of logging infrastructure. Yet the scale and shape of the map have been drawn to illustrate the results of a geological survey of the area in pursuit of mineral wealth. The clear-cut landscape presumably made the act of surveying the land easier; future mining in the area would thus build on the previous layer of extraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_947500\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Selection: Ontario Department of Mines, <em>Sioux Lookout Area, District of Kenora, Ontario<\/em> (1932).<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"817\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-13490\" data-id=\"13490\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-1024x817.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-1024x817.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-300x239.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-scaled-600x479.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-768x613.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-1536x1226.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-2048x1635.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Ontario Department of Mines, Sioux Lookout Area, District of Kenora, Ontario (1932)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"921\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18218\" data-id=\"18218\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_2-921x1024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_2-921x1024.jpg 921w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_2-300x333.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_2-600x667.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_2-270x300.jpg 270w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_2-768x853.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_2.jpg 1087w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 921px) 100vw, 921px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Ontario Department of Mines, Sioux Lookout Area, District of Kenora, Ontario, Legend Detail (1932)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"722\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18217\" data-id=\"18217\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_1-1024x722.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_1-1024x722.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_1-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_1-600x423.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_1-768x541.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_1-140x100.jpg 140w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/map6f_g3463_k4c5_1932_05_o2__detail_1.jpg 1129w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Ontario Department of Mines, Sioux Lookout Area, District of Kenora, Ontario, detail (1932)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Questions to Consider<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What different layers or waves of extraction do you notice in the details from the <em>Mineral Lands<\/em> maps? How do you think these layers impacted each other?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Describe the image of the \u201cAncient Mining Practices.\u201d How is the figure in the illustration portrayed? What methods does the figure in the illustration use to extract resources from the land? How might an image like this have been used to substantiate settler claims upon indigenous territory?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to the map of Walter Loomis Newberry\u2019s map, what kinds of wood fetch the highest price? How did different kinds of trees affect real estate values? Why did the creator of this map anticipate a future increase in the land\u2019s value? How might someone have used this map?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Describe the <em>Sioux Lookout Area<\/em> map. What details do you notice? Where do you see evidence of the logging industry? What evidence of indigenous use might the map contain?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How do we know that extraction, production, or exchange have taken place? What evidence do these documents offer?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Commodities in the Urban Landscape<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The exchange of commodities played a crucial role in larger processes of urbanization, particularly in places like Chicago. Commodities like iron, timber, and coal provided the raw materials used to construct cities, while their exchange shaped how individuals, companies, and municipalities organized their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_158629\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"706\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-706x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13491\" style=\"width:307px;height:445px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-706x1024.jpg 706w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-scaled-300x435.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-scaled-600x871.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-207x300.jpg 207w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-768x1115.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-1058x1536.jpg 1058w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-1411x2048.jpg 1411w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-scaled.jpg 1764w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 706px) 100vw, 706px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_158629\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps of Chicago, Marshall Field &amp; Co Department Store (1901)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanborn Insurance maps presented the city block by block, with the goal of taking stock of the value of all real estate in the city. Peoples Gas, Light, and Coke Company, now known as Peoples\u2019 Gas, updated the map below in pieces, by simply pasting over old information. Keeping the map current allowed the company to maintain distribution of and infrastructure for commercial, industrial, and residential gas consumption. Details on the map give clues as to how the centers of cities developed into commercial districts structured to facilitate centralized and efficient exchange of commodities. In the map here, Marshall Field and Company and Wieboldts, two of Chicago\u2019s leading department store chains for much of the twentieth century, compete for dominance on some of the most desirable real estate in the city. Tellingly, these commercial blocks were just a short distance away from commodities and stock exchanges taking place at such institutions as the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_83413-2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"748\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-748x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13488\" style=\"width:263px;height:360px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-748x1024.jpg 748w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-scaled-300x410.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-scaled-600x821.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-219x300.jpg 219w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-768x1051.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-1123x1536.jpg 1123w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-1497x2048.jpg 1497w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-scaled.jpg 1871w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_83413-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">C.V. Sciepcevich, &#8220;A Great Commercial Edifice &#8211; The New Home of the American Express Company in Chicago&#8221; in <em>The Landowner<\/em> (1874)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One block south of Wieboldts stood another \u201cGreat Commercial Edifice,\u201d the Chicago headquarters of the American Express Company. Founded in 1850, the American Express Company specialized in the transport of parcels, money, and other valuable commodities via express trains and coaches. The company\u2019s new building was designed in 1872 by the famed architect H. H. Richardson. Special features, such as large ground-floor windows and a light court that divided the structure\u2019s upper half, allowed sunlight into the interior packing rooms and offices, while a nearby stable housed the horses and wagons used to transport goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Questions to Consider<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What kinds of information does the Sanborn insurance map contain? How might that information have been used? How can insurance maps such as this one help us to understand the history and development of cities like Chicago?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why might Chicago\u2019s largest department stores in the twentieth century have been located so near one another?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What kinds of interior spaces does the illustration of the American Express Company headquarters reveal? How are those spaces being used, or how might they be used? What aspects of the building\u2019s design do you think may have facilitated commercial exchange?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What might commodities have had to do with the location, development, and structure of Chicago? Why is Chicago Chicago?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lands Transformed for Commerce<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over centuries, humans have altered virtually every corner of the North American landscape. Many of those alterations are inadvertent, byproducts, for instance, of processes of extraction. The landscape also reflects more deliberate alterations. Manipulating the natural environment by digging canals, changing the course of waterways, or other means can promote the efficient exchange of commodities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marie Adrien Persac, a French-born artist and surveyor, consulted parish records and traveled up and down the Mississippi River to gather information for his 1858 chart. Details on the chart, such as the names and owners of each plantation, made it a useful tool for navigating the section of the river north of New Orleans. The chart shows how planters divided the land to aid the cultivation and transportation of two important commodities in the Gulf area of the Southern United States: sugar (shown in yellow and green) and cotton (in blue and pink). Dockside views on top and bottom illustrate the cultivation and distribution of cotton crops in the region. The map also shows how artificial rechanneling of the river had been taking place over the previous century, a process that altered key features of the environment to promote commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_601366\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Selection: Marie Adrien Persac, <em>Norman&#8217;s Chart of the Lower Mississippi <\/em>(1858)<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"505\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-13487\" data-id=\"13487\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-505x1024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-505x1024.jpg 505w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-scaled-300x609.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-scaled-600x1217.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-148x300.jpg 148w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-768x1558.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-757x1536.jpg 757w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-1010x2048.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-scaled.jpg 1262w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 505px) 100vw, 505px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Marie Adrien Persac, Norman&#8217;s Chart of the Lower Mississippi (1858)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"491\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18191\" data-id=\"18191\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-1024x491.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-1024x491.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-300x144.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-600x288.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-768x368.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail-1536x737.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations-top_detail.jpg 1716w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Marie Adrien Persac, Norman&#8217;s Chart of the Lower Mississippi, detail &#8220;Baton Rouge&#8221; (1858)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"320\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18192\" data-id=\"18192\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations_bottom_detail-1024x320.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations_bottom_detail-1024x320.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations_bottom_detail-300x94.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations_bottom_detail-scaled-600x188.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations_bottom_detail-768x240.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations_bottom_detail-1536x481.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi_illustrations_bottom_detail-2048x641.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Marie Adrien Persac, Norman&#8217;s Chart of the Lower Mississippi, detail &#8220;New Orleans&#8221; (1858)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similar alterations to the landscape were underway on Lake Michigan in the early 1870s. Beginning in the summer of 1872, the Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan Ship Canal and Harbor Company dug a canal that shortened the waterborne transportation route between Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Chicago. Proponents of this improvement argued that it offered lumber companies operating around Green Bay a faster, easier, and safer way to get lumber to Chicago markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_83413\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Selection: &#8220;Our Great Lumber Interests,&#8221; in <em>The Landowner<\/em>, 205 (1872)<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"772\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-13486\" data-id=\"13486\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-772x1024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-772x1024.jpg 772w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-scaled-300x398.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-scaled-600x796.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-768x1019.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-1158x1536.jpg 1158w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-1543x2048.jpg 1543w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-scaled.jpg 1929w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 772px) 100vw, 772px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">&#8220;Our Great Lumber Interests,&#8221; in The Landowner, 205 (1872)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"393\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18190\" data-id=\"18190\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_map_p-205_detail-1024x393.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_map_p-205_detail-1024x393.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_map_p-205_detail-300x115.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_map_p-205_detail-scaled-600x230.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_map_p-205_detail-768x295.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_map_p-205_detail-1536x590.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_map_p-205_detail-2048x786.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">&#8220;Our Great Lumber Interests,&#8221; in The Landowner, image detail, 205 (1872)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Questions to Consider<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Describe the shape and arrangement of the many plantations located along the Mississippi River. What features do they share? In what ways are the cotton and sugar plantations different or similar to each other? How might the arrangement and location of the plantations facilitate the exchange of commodities?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Examine the views of cotton cultivation and transportation at the top and bottom of the map. What might these views reveal about the map\u2019s purpose, the kinds of messages it might convey, or how an individual might use it?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Based on the article in The Land Owner, how would you characterize the relationship between the expanding railway system and waterborne transit?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The article and accompanying map laud the many positive effects the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal will have on lumber and other industries. What are some of the benefits the article highlights? What implications does the author predict the canal might have for the city of Chicago, in particular?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Describe the map that accompanies the article. What other evidence of alterations to the landscape do you notice? What purpose do you think those changes served? What information does the map reveal about Chicago\u2019s links to other commodities sources?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A New View of the Continent<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many accounts of North American history explain the westward expansion of the United States and Canada in terms of each government\u2019s official annexation of territory. Yet commodities\u2014in their extraction, production, and exchange\u2014may offer a different way of thinking about the history of life and work in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_135940\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Selection: W. J. Keeler, <em>National Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean <\/em>(1867)<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"839\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-13485\" data-id=\"13485\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-1024x839.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-1024x839.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-300x246.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-scaled-600x492.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-768x629.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-1536x1259.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-2048x1678.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">W. J. Keeler, National Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean (1867)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"658\" height=\"545\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18194\" data-id=\"18194\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_2.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_2.jpg 658w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_2-300x248.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_2-600x497.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 658px) 100vw, 658px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">W. J. Keeler, National Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, detail of title (1867)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"783\" height=\"562\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18195\" data-id=\"18195\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_3.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_3.jpg 783w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_3-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_3-600x431.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_3-768x551.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_3-140x100.jpg 140w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 783px) 100vw, 783px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">W. J. Keeler, National Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, detail of Gulf of Mexico (1867)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"988\" height=\"797\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18197\" data-id=\"18197\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_5.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_5.jpg 988w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_5-300x242.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_5-600x484.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_5-768x620.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 988px) 100vw, 988px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">W. J. Keeler, National Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, detail of  Nebraska and Kansas (1867)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"990\" height=\"877\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18196\" data-id=\"18196\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_4.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_4.jpg 990w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_4-300x266.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_4-600x532.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_4-768x680.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 990px) 100vw, 990px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">W. J. Keeler, National Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, detail of Southern California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona (1867)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"580\" height=\"587\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-18193\" data-id=\"18193\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_1.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_1.jpg 580w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_1-300x304.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_1-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Graff_2276__Map__detail_1-296x300.jpg 296w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">W. J. Keeler, National Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, cover (1867)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">William J. Keeler prepared his 1867 map of the western territories for the U.S. Department of the Interior, the government office responsible for administering federal and indigenous territory. Integrating information from railroad company records, public surveys, and other sources, Keeler\u2019s map depicts the West in great detail. The purpose of this map was the envisioning, planning, and placing of railroads that would link sites of extraction, production, and exchange. In addition to railroad routes, the map shows the locations of township lines, American Indian territories, military forts, and mines for gold, silver, copper, and other valuable metals. The map reveals a continent full of potential commodities, what Keeler described as \u201cnew sources of national wealth.\u201d In the process, the map presents itself as a commodity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Questions to Consider<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What information does the map include? How does it portray the territory west of the Mississippi River? Had parts of the United States east of the Mississippi River been included in the map, would they have been portrayed differently?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What sorts of audiences might be interested in this map? How might they use it?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Locate the Indian Reservations on the map. How do American Indians factor into Keeler\u2019s depiction of the western territory? Where do they fit into the prosperous future the map seems to anticipate?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What kinds of stories might this map tell about westward expansion and commodities extraction, production, and exchange?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related Resources <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/173.230.141.246\/dcc\/collections\/aphra-behn-oroonoko-slavery-and-race-in-the-atlantic-world\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aphra Behn\u2019s Oroonoko: Slavery and Race in the Atlantic World<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/173.230.141.246\/dcc\/collections\/art-and-exploration-of-the-poles\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Art and Exploration of the Poles<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/173.230.141.246\/dcc\/collections\/imagining-american-west\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Imagining the American West in the Late Nineteenth Century<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/mappingmovement.newberry.org\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mapping Movement in American History and Culture<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Sources<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transportation <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The proximity of iron ore deposits to the Great Lakes made waterborne transportation the easiest and most economical means of getting the ore to ironworks. The movement of grain production and markets away from the Lakes in the same period contributed to a decline in the amount of flour moving over the Lakes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-995f960e wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_742776-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-640x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Lists of years and how much commerce happened per each item. Port cities like Cleveland, Ohio linked waterborne and rail traffic, and thereby helped bind the Great Lakes and their environs together into North America\u2019s primary manufacturing region.\" class=\"wp-image-13484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-640x1024.jpg 640w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-scaled-300x480.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-scaled-600x959.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-188x300.jpg 188w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-768x1228.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-961x1536.jpg 961w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-1281x2048.jpg 1281w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lake-and-Rail-Commerce-at-Cleveland_table_p234-scaled.jpg 1601w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_742776-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">United States Bureau of Corporations, <em>Report of the Commissioner of Corporations on Transportation by Water, &#8220;Table 181&#8211;Lake and Rail Commerce at Cleveland,&#8221;<\/em> (1909)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_83413\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"772\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-772x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The Land Owner, a Chicago newspaper that covered real estate, commercial, and manufacturing issues, celebrated the construction of the Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan Canal in this article and map from its December 1872 issue.\" class=\"wp-image-13486\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-772x1024.jpg 772w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-scaled-300x398.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-scaled-600x796.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-768x1019.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-1158x1536.jpg 1158w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-1543x2048.jpg 1543w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205-scaled.jpg 1929w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 772px) 100vw, 772px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_83413\/Our-Great-Lumber-Interests_p-205.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Our Great Lumber Interests,&#8221; in The Landowner, (1872)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_601366\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"505\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-505x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Vertical depiction of the lower Mississippi River with colored bands showing the uses of the land along the riverbanks.\" class=\"wp-image-13487\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-505x1024.jpg 505w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-scaled-300x609.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-scaled-600x1217.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-148x300.jpg 148w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-768x1558.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-757x1536.jpg 757w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-1010x2048.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi-scaled.jpg 1262w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 505px) 100vw, 505px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_601366\/Persac_Normans-Chart-of-Lower-Mississippi.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Marie Adrien Persac, <em>Norman&#8217;s Chart of the Lower Mississippi <\/em>(1858)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-995f960e wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_742776-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"760\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-1024x760.jpg\" alt=\"Map. The movement of iron ore from centers of extraction around Lake Superior to centers of steel making and machine fabrication along the lower Great Lakes attests to the relative ease of shipping vast amounts of weight over water.\" class=\"wp-image-13483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-1024x760.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-scaled-600x445.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-768x570.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-1536x1140.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Movement-of-Iron-Ore_map-2048x1520.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_742776-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">United States Bureau of Corporations, <em>Report of the Commissioner of Corporations on Transportation by Water, &#8220;Movement of Iron Ore on the Great Lakes, 1897 and 1907&#8221;<\/em> (1909)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Indigenous Land and Displacement <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The process of extracting commodities from the land often occurred in waves; when one commodity became depleted, focus shifted to another. Clearing land led to the displacement of people and animals, and a complete transformation of the landscape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-995f960e wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_917092\/map6F_G4112.N6_1845_T3__full_map.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"843\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-1024x843.jpg\" alt=\"Black and white map of western section of Lake Superior, with coast colored in pink\" class=\"wp-image-14109\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-1024x843.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-300x247.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-scaled-600x494.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-768x632.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-1536x1264.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Talcott_Mineral_Lands-2048x1686.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_917092\/map6F_G4112.N6_1845_T3__full_map.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Andrew Belcher Gray and George Talcott, <em>Map of That Part of the Mineral Lands Adjacent to Lake Superior Ceded to the United States in 1842<\/em> (1845)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_84406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1004\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-1004x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The image is of an Indigenous man mining using various weapons and fire. Drawn to accompany an 1847 government report on the history and projected future of American Indians in the United States, this illustration recalls the many-layered history of mineral extraction around Lake Superior.\" class=\"wp-image-13489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-1004x1024.jpg 1004w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-scaled-300x306.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-scaled-600x612.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-294x300.jpg 294w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-768x783.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-1506x1536.jpg 1506w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tidball_Ancient-Mining-On-Lake-Superior_plate-16-2008x2048.jpg 2008w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1004px) 100vw, 1004px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_84406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">J.C. Tinball, &#8220;Ancient Mining on Lake Superior,&#8221; <em>Historical and Statistical Information, Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States<\/em> (1855)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_947500\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"817\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-1024x817.jpg\" alt=\"This geological survey map reveals both vestiges of the logging industry and the shift toward extracting a new commodity from the land: minerals.\" class=\"wp-image-13490\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-1024x817.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-300x239.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-scaled-600x479.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-768x613.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-1536x1226.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sioux-Lookout-Area-2048x1635.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_947500\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ontario Department of Mines, Sioux Lookout Area, District of Kenora, Ontario (1932)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-995f960e wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_102450\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"309\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-1024x309.jpg\" alt=\"In this map of Walter Loomis Newberry\u2019s Wisconsin estate, the land itself becomes a commodity, its value based on the value of the timber it contains.\" class=\"wp-image-18226\" style=\"aspect-ratio:4\/3;object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-1024x309.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-300x91.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-scaled-600x181.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-768x232.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-1536x464.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_foldout-table_detail-2048x619.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_102450\/Estate-of-Walter-Loomis-Newberry_map_detail.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Estate of Walter Loomis Newberry in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, &#8220;Total Amount of Timber&#8221; (1860)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Commodities in the Urban Landscape<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The exchange of commodities played a crucial role in larger processes of urbanization, particularly in places like Chicago. Commodities like iron, timber, and coal provided the raw materials used to construct cities, while their exchange shaped how individuals, companies, and municipalities organized their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-995f960e wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_158629\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"706\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-706x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Colored map. People\u2019s Gas kept this insurance map up-to-date by pasting new pieces over old information, thus helping the company maintain its infrastructure for commercial and residential gas consumption.\" class=\"wp-image-13491\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-706x1024.jpg 706w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-scaled-300x435.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-scaled-600x871.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-207x300.jpg 207w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-768x1115.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-1058x1536.jpg 1058w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-1411x2048.jpg 1411w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sanborn_Insurance-Maps-of-Chicago_p-25s-scaled.jpg 1764w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 706px) 100vw, 706px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_158629\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps of Chicago, Marshall Field &amp; Co Department Store (1901)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_83413-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"748\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-748x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Newspaper cover with images of rebuilt buildings. Architect H. H. Richardson designed the American Express Company\u2019s new Chicago headquarters after the company\u2019s offices burned down in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.\" class=\"wp-image-13488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-748x1024.jpg 748w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-scaled-300x410.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-scaled-600x821.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-219x300.jpg 219w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-768x1051.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-1123x1536.jpg 1123w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-1497x2048.jpg 1497w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sciepcevich_Great-Commercial-Edifice_p-1-scaled.jpg 1871w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_83413-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">C.V. Sciepcevich, &#8220;A Great Commercial Edifice &#8211; The New Home of the American Express Company in Chicago&#8221; in the Land Owner (1874)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_135940\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"839\" src=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-1024x839.jpg\" alt=\"William Keeler\u2019s colored map of the territory west of the Mississippi River reveals a continent full of potential commodities, and presents itself as a commodity in the process.\" class=\"wp-image-13485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-1024x839.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-300x246.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-scaled-600x492.jpg 600w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-768x629.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-1536x1259.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-2048x1678.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/nby_135940\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">W. J. Keeler, &#8220;National Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean&#8221; (1867)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Further Reading<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Further Reading<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">William Ashworth. The Late, Great Lakes: An Environmental History. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pierce F. Lewis. \u201cAxioms for Reading the Landscape: Some Guides to the American Scene,\u201d in The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes: Geographical Essays. Edited by D. W. Meinig. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeffrey Karl Ochsner. \u201cRichardson, H. H.\u201d American National Biography Online. New York: Oxford University Press, Feb.&nbsp;2000.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How are commodities extracted, produced, and exchanged? How have those processes shaped the physical and cultural landscape of North America? How might the way we see and study those processes alter our understanding of ourselves, the environment, or the history of North America?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[83,84,164],"tags":[165],"class_list":["post-14433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-19th-century","category-20th-century","category-collection-essays","tag-us-history"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Keeler_National-Map-of-the-Territory-scaled-e1601066211119.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14433"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24200,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14433\/revisions\/24200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcc.newberry.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}