- Title: Western Coast of the United States Sections X & XI
- Author: A. D. Bache
- Date: 1855
- Medium: Engraving
- Condition: Good - age toning, wear along fold lines, old adhesive residue in margins
- Inches: 21 x 31 [Image]
- Centimeters: 53.34 x 78.74 [Image]
- Product ID: 3110009
U. S. Coast Survey
A. D. Bache Superintendent
Sketch J No. 2
Showing the Progress of the Survey on the
Western Coast of the United States
Sections X & XI
From 1850 to 1855
Scale 1/400,000
1855
Map depicting the United States' western coastline stretching from north of San Francisco to south of Monterey. Contains three inset maps: San Pedro and Vicinity (showing Santa Barbara and environs), another of San Francisco Bay, and a third of Oregon's Columbia River.
Surveyor, scientist, and pioneering oceanographer A. D. Bache (1806-1867) served as the 6th Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey. Born in Philadelphia, he came from a prominent political family, and was the great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin. Under his leadership, the Coast Survey’s operations grew significantly, expanding from nine to seventeen states as it surveyed the Gulf and West Coasts. Bache ran meticulous studies relating to ocean currents, tides, and the earth’s magnetic field, endeavors which provided in-depth knowledge about U.S. coastal geography. Thanks to Bache, the Coast Survey evolved into an immense resource for the U.S. government and one of the foremost scientific institutions in the country leading up to the Civil War.