Making a modern U.S. West : the contested terrain of a region and its borders, 1898-1942
by
To many Americans in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the West was simultaneously the greatest symbol of American opportunity, the greatest story of its history, and the imagined blank slate on which the country's future would be written. From the Spanish-American War in 1898 to the Great Depression's end, from the Mississippi to the Pacific, policymakers at various levels and large-scale corporate investors, along with those living in the West and its borderlands, struggled over who would define modernity, who would participate in the modern American West, and who would be excluded. In Making a Modern U.S. West Sarah Deutsch surveys the history of the U.S. West from 1898 to 1940. Centering what is often relegated to the margins in histories of the region--the flows of people, capital, and ideas across borders--Deutsch attends to the region's role in constructing U.S. racial formations and argues that the West as a region was as important as the South in constructing the United States as a "white man's country." While this racial formation was linked to claims of modernity and progress by powerful players, Deutsch shows that visions of what constituted modernity were deeply contested by others. This expansive volume presents the most thorough examination to date of the American West from the late 1890s to the eve of World War II.
Land: How the Hunger for the Ownership Shaped the Modern World
by
"In many ways, Land combines bits and pieces of many of Winchester's previous books into a satisfying, globe-trotting whole. . . . Winchester is, once again, a consummate guide."--Boston Globe The author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, and The Perfectionists explores the notion of property--bought, earned, or received; in Europe, Africa, North America, or the South Pacific--through human history, how it has shaped us and what it will mean for our future. Land--whether meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or pasture, suburb or city--is central to our existence. It quite literally underlies and underpins everything. Employing the keen intellect, insatiable curiosity, and narrative verve that are the foundations of his previous bestselling works, Simon Winchester examines what we human beings are doing--and have done--with the billions of acres that together make up the solid surface of our planet. Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World examines in depth how we acquire land, how we steward it, how and why we fight over it, and finally, how we can, and on occasion do, come to share it. Ultimately, Winchester confronts the essential question: who actually owns the world's land--and why does it matter?
A line of blood and dirt : creating the Canada-United States border across indigenous lands
by
The untold history of the multiracial making of the border between Canada and the United States.Often described as the longest undefended border in the world, the Canada-US border was born in blood, conflict, and uncertainty.At the end of the American Revolution, Britain and the United States imagined a future for each of their nations that stretched across a continent. They signed treaties with one another dividing lands neither country could map, much less control. A century and a half later, Canada and the UnitedStates had largely fulfilled those earlier ambitions. Both countries had built nations that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific and had made an expansive international border that restricted movement.The vision that seemed so clear in the minds of diplomats and politicians never behaved as such on the ground. Both countries built their border across Indigenous lands using hunger, violence, and coercion to displace existing communities and to disrupt their ideas of territory and belonging. Theborder's length undermined each nation's attempts at control. Unable to prevent movement at the border's physical location for over a century, Canada and the United States instead found ways to project fear across international lines. They aimed to stop journeys before they even began.
Women and GIS, Volume 3, Champions of a sustainable world
by
Impressive stories of women using geospatial technology to create sustainable solutions for problems the world faces. The third volume in the Women and GIS series shows how 31 diverse women in various STEAM fields discovered their passion, broke down barriers, and used maps, analysis, imagery, and geographic information systems (GIS) to advance their fields and improve the world. Sharing their experiences from childhood and throughout their careers, each woman reveals her journey in an inspiring recollection of the obstacles she has overcome, the knowledge she has gained along the way, and how tenacity and determination have helped her succeed. Each woman shares tips and words of wisdom that she's gained along the way, including: Priscilla Mbama Abasi: "Think big! Think about going to space, think about building things no one has seen before." Arianna Armelli: "If you are like me and crave the freedom to explore a path of the unknown, aka entrepreneurship, a career in STEM will foster the technical foundation to achieve those goals." Gabi Fleury: "The best advice I was given starting out was 'forge your own path.' Conservation isn't a structured, straight-line career, you can get into it in many ways. This is exciting, but it also can be really challenging, because you have to be flexible, innovative, and always on the lookout for the next opportunity." Healy Hamilton: "Success, to me, is a daily feeling that you are living true to your values, that you are meaningfully contributing to the world you want to create." Katharine Hayhoe: "While it's important to have people you respect and trust give you feedback at key points in your career, when it all comes down to it, you have to make the decisions that feel right for you, not the ones that necessarily look best on paper. You're the one who has to live with them." Featuring strong, persevering women from around the globe, the stories found in Women and GIS, Volume 3: Champions of a Sustainable World will inspire readers who are developing their own life stories to strive for success and achieve amazing accomplishments.
Mapping Nature Across the Americas
by
Maps are inherently unnatural. Projecting three-dimensional realities onto two-dimensional surfaces, maps are abstractions that capture someone's idea of what matters within a particular place; they require selections and omissions. It is these very characteristics, however, that give maps their importance in understanding how humans have interacted with the natural world and that give historical maps especially the power to provide rich insights into the relationship between humans and nature over time. That is just what is achieved in Mapping Nature across the Americas. Illustrated throughout, the essays in this book argue for the greater analysis of historical maps in the field of environmental history and for greater attention within the field of the history of cartography to the cultural constructions of nature contained within maps. This volume thus provides the first in-depth and interdisciplinary investigation of the relationship between maps and environmental knowledge in the Americas, from sixteenth-century indigenous cartography in Mexico to the mapping of American forests in the United States during the early conservation years of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Keeping Races in Their Places: the Dividing Lines That Shaped the American City
by
"A book perfect for this moment" -Katherine M. O'Regan, Former Assistant Secretary, US Department of Housing and Urban Development More than fifty years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, American cities remain divided along the very same lines that this landmark legislation explicitly outlawed. Keeping Races in Their Places tells the story of these lines--who drew them, why they drew them, where they drew them, and how they continue to circumscribe residents' opportunities to this very day. Weaving together sophisticated statistical analyses of more than a century's worth of data with an engaging, accessible narrative that brings the numbers to life, Keeping Races in Their Places exposes the entrenched effects of redlining on American communities. This one-of-a-kind contribution to the real estate and urban economics literature applies the author's original geographic information systems analyses to historical maps to reveal redlining's causal role in shaping today's cities. Spanning the era from the Great Migration to the Great Recession, Keeping Races in Their Places uncovers the roots of the Black-white wealth gap, the subprime lending crisis, and today's lack of affordable housing in maps created by banks nearly a century ago. Most of all, it offers hope that with the latest scholarly tools we can pinpoint how things went wrong--and what we must do to make them right.
The Original Survey: Recognition and Significance
by
The most comprehensive treatment of key elements of original surveys, and the research required to find them, which is an important issue in retracement surveys that has never been fully explored. It will help surveyors become familiar with the proper identification and requirements and find the appropriate evidence using proper procedures. The most comprehensive treatment of key elements of original surveys and the research required to find original surveys, is an important issue in retracement surveys that has never been fully explored. It emphasizes the importance and the necessity of determining the creation of the title and its sources along with its accompanying survey or location. The case studies included in the book discuss the consequences when investigators do not follow complete research procedures, and act upon less information, even though the law requires otherwise. This is a practical guide for surveyors to become familiar with the proper identification and requirements and find the appropriate evidence using the right procedures. This book is intended for the practicing surveyor and will be useful to the legal profession, historical researchers, federal land departments, and others interested in surveys. Features This is the first book that focuses on identifying original surveys, written by one of the top consultants in the United States, who brings real case examples of both successes and failures Explains land separation techniques when more than one has been used previously. Includes numerous case examples providing context for surveyors and attorneys Discusses the relation between title creation and their transfer Addresses federal versus private surveys, their differences, and similarities
Women and GIS, Vol. 2, Stars of spatial science
by
Foreword by Jane Goodall Thirty inspiring stories of diverse women using geospatial technology to advance science and help resolve important issues facing the world. Like the first volume, Women and GIS, Volume 2: Stars of Spatial Science tells how 30 women in many different STEM fields applied themselves, overcame obstacles, and used maps, analysis, imagery, and geographic information systems (GIS) to contribute to their professions and the world. Sharing the experiences of their childhoods, the misstarts and challenges they faced, and the lessons they learned, each story is a celebration of a woman's unique life path and of the perseverance, dedication, and hard work it takes to achieve success. This book includes multicultural women at various points in their careers such as: Barbara Ryan -- Dedicated to open spatial data for everyone Cecille Blake -- Growing GIS capacity in Jamaica and for North and South American countries Rhiannan Price -- Advocating to make a difference for vulnerable populations Verónica Vélez -- Fighting for social and racial justice in education Tanya Harrison -- Bringing Mars to the masses From planetary scientists to civil engineers, entrepreneurs to urban planners, the strong, passionate women in Women and GIS, Volume 2: Stars of Spatial Science serve as guiding stars to motivate readers who are developing their own life stories and to inspire their potential to meaningful achievements.
Women and GIS : mapping their stories
by
Twenty-three stories about how ordinary girls with very different passions have become extraordinary women and made significant contributions to our world Women look to other women as role models and for inspiration. Seeing confidence, leadership and accomplishments in other women helps a young woman envision herself with those qualities. Women and GIS: Mapping Their Stories tells the tales of how 23 women applied themselves and overcame obstacles, using maps, analysis, and geographic information systems (GIS) to contribute to their professions and the world. Sharing the experiences of their childhoods, the misstarts and challenges they faced, and the lessons they learned, each story is a celebration of a woman's unique path and of the perseverance and hard work it takes to achieve success. From oceanographers to activists, archaeologists to entrepreneurs, the women in Women and GIS: Mapping Their Stories can serve as mentors to motivate readers who are developing their own life stories and inspire their potential in a new way.
How the West Was Drawn: Mapping, Indians, and the Construction of the Trans-Mississippi West
by
How the West Was Drawn explores the geographic and historical experiences of the Pawnees, the Iowas, and the Lakotas during the European and American contest for imperial control of the Great Plains during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. David Bernstein argues that the American West was a collaborative construction between Native peoples and Euro-American empires that developed cartographic processes and culturally specific maps, which in turn reflected encounter and conflict between settler states and indigenous peoples. Bernstein explores the cartographic creation of the Trans-Mississippi West through an interdisciplinary methodology in geography and history. He shows how the Pawnees and the Iowas--wedged between powerful Osages, Sioux, the horse- and captive-rich Comanche Empire, French fur traders, Spanish merchants, and American Indian agents and explorers--devised strategies of survivance and diplomacy to retain autonomy during this era. The Pawnees and the Iowas developed a strategy of cartographic resistance to predations by both Euro-American imperial powers and strong indigenous empires, navigating the volatile and rapidly changing world of the Great Plains by brokering their spatial and territorial knowledge either to stronger indigenous nations or to much weaker and conquerable American and European powers. How the West Was Drawn is a revisionist and interdisciplinary understanding of the global imperial contest for North America's Great Plains that illuminates in fine detail the strategies of survival of the Pawnees, the Iowas, and the Lakotas amid accommodation to predatory Euro-American and Native empires.
Drawing the Lines : Constraints on Partisan Gerrymandering in U.S. Politics.
by
Radical redistricting plans, such as that pushed through by Texas governor Rick Perry in 2003, are frequently used for partisan purposes. Perry's plan sent twenty-one Republicans (and only eleven Democrats) to Congress in the 2004 elections. Such heavy-handed tactics strike many as contrary to basic democratic principles. In Drawing the Lines, Nicholas R. Seabrook uses a combination of political science methods and legal studies insights to investigate the effects of redistricting on U.S. House elections. He concludes that partisan gerrymandering poses far less of a threat to democratic accountability than conventional wisdom would suggest.Building on a large data set of the demographics of redrawn districts and subsequent congressional elections, Seabrook looks less at the who and how of gerrymandering and considers more closely the practical effects of partisan redistricting plans. He finds that the redrawing of districts often results in no detrimental effect for district-level competition. Short-term benefits in terms of capturing seats are sometimes achieved but long-term results are uncertain. By focusing on the end results rather than on the motivations of political actors, Seabrook seeks to recast the political debate about the importance of partisanship. He supports institutionalizing metrics for competitiveness that would prove more threatening to all incumbents no matter their party affiliation.
Surveying Instruments and Technology
by
With the advent of GPS/GNSS satellite navigation systems and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) surveying profession is nowadays facing its transformative stage. Written by a team of surveying experts, Surveyor's Instruments and Technology gives surveying students and practitioners profound understanding of how surveying instruments are designed and operating based on surveying instrument functionality. The book includes the required basic knowledge of accurate measurements of distances and angles from theoretical principles to advanced optical, mechanical, electronic and software components for comparative analysis. Readers are presented with basic elements of UAS systems, practical interpretation techniques, sensor components, and operating platforms. Appropriate for surveying courses at all levels, this guide helps students and practitioners alike to understand what is behind the buttons of surveying instruments of all kinds when considering practical project implementations.
Drawing the Line : How Mason and Dixon Surveyed the Most Famous Border in America
by
The second edition of Drawing the Line: How Mason and Dixon Surveyed the Most Famous Border in America updates Edwin Danson's definitive history of the creation of the Mason - Dixon Line to reflect new research and archival documents that have come to light in recent years. Features numerous updates and revisions reflecting new information that has come to light on surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon Reveals the true origin of the survey's starting point and the actual location of the surveyors' observatory in Embreeville Offers expanded information on Mason and Dixon's transit of Venus adventures, which would be an important influence on their future work, and on Mason's final years pursuing a share of the fabulous Longitude prize, and his death in Philadelphia Includes a new, more comprehensive appendix describing the surveying methods utilized to establish the Mason-Dixon Line
The geography of names : indigenous to post-foundational
by
This book examines geographical names, place-names, and toponymy from philosophical and cultural evolutionary perspectives. Geographical name-tracking-networks (Geo-NTNs) are posited as tools for tracking names through time and across space, and for making sense of how names evolve both temporally and spatially. Examples from North and South American indigenous groups, the Canadian arctic, Wales, England, and the Middle East are brought into a theoretical framework for making sense of aspects of place-naming practices, beliefs, and systems. New geographical tools such as geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) are demonstrated to be important in the production and maintenance of robust networks for keeping names and their associated meanings viable in a rapidly changing world where place-naming is being taken up increasingly in social media and other new mapping platforms. The Geography of Names makes the case that geographical names are transmitted memetically (i.e. as cultural units, or memes) through what Saul Kripke called communication chains. Combining insights from Kripke with views of later Wittgenstein on language and names as being inherently spatial, the present work advances theories of both these thinkers into an explicitly geographical inquiry that advances philosophical and practical aspects of naming, language, and mapping.
Land Tenure, Boundary Surveys, and Cadastral Systems
by
Land is important to all aspects of human life and has a key role in the economic well-being of society therefore, land tenure, land ownership, and real property law is a critical part of any developed nation. Together, the processes of how land parcels are held; how they are defined, measured, and described to allow economic transactions; how they are marked to allow their use and defense; and how they are legally protected have allowed for the orderly possession and use of land. In doing so, these processes have also provided the basis for the advanced economy of most developed nations. Very often, these processes--land tenure, boundary surveying, and cadastral systems--are considered separately. They are very much interrelated, and none of these processes may be completely understood without an understanding of the others. Land Tenure, Boundary Surveys, and Cadastral Systems provides an introduction to land tenure, cadastral systems, and boundary surveying, including an understanding of the interrelationship of these areas and their role in land tenure and real property law. This is especially true considering the advent of georeferenced cadastral maps reflecting the location of land parcels relative to many other components of the physical and legal infrastructure. Although intended as a basic text for college-level surveying courses, this book should also be of significant value to cadastral mappers, real property attorneys, land title professionals, and others involved with land transactions. , including an understanding of the interrelationship of these areas and their role in land tenure and real property law. This is especially true considering the advent of georeferenced cadastral maps reflecting the location of land parcels relative to many other components of the physical and legal infrastructure. Although intended as a basic text for college-level surveying courses, this book should also be of significant value to cadastral mappers, real property attorneys, land title professionals, and others involved with land transactions.
Engaging the Line: How the Great War Shaped the Canada-US Border
by
For decades, people living in adjacent communities along the Canada-US border enjoyed close social and economic relationships with their neighbours across the line. The introduction of new security measures during the First World War threatened this way of life by restricting the movement of people and goods across the border. Many Canadians resented the new regulations introduced by their provincial and federal governments, deriding them as "outside influences" that created friction where none had existed before. Engaging the Line examines responses to wartime regulations in several border communities, including Windsor, Ontario; Detroit, Michigan; and White Rock, British Columbia. This book brings to life the repercussions for these communities and offers readers a glimpse at the origins of our modern, highly secured border by tracing the shifting relationship between citizens and the state during wartime.
Modernizing American land records : order upon chaos
by
Modernizing American Land Records: Order upon Chaos presents a design for a modern American Land Records System (ALRS) that provides material about both the nature and extent of land interests. This book discusses the history of American land concepts, land governance, and land records systems and their use. These institutional aspects are considered along with the nature and extent of location-oriented land data systems such as geographic and land information systems (GIS/LIS). The institutional and technical aspects are brought together in the design of a modern ALRS that is consistent with current attitudes, practices, and technological development.
Interpreting Land Records
by
Base retracement on solid research and historically accurate interpretation Interpreting Land Records is the industry's most complete guide to researching and understanding the historical records germane to land surveying. Coverage includes boundary retracement and the primary considerations during new boundary establishment, as well as an introduction to historical records and guidance on effective research and interpretation. This new edition includes a new chapter titled "Researching Land Records," and advice on overcoming common research problems and insight into alternative resources when official records are unavailable. Topical case studies provide helpful, plain-language descriptions of methods, problems, and resolutions, and appendices provide definitions, context, and modern interpretation of historical words and phrases. The text features exhaustive coverage and notes, with hundreds of case law citations annotated with expert insight that gives readers the complete background of the methods and techniques discussed. Boundary retracement entails the recovery of historical documents related to the original boundary, correct interpretation and analysis, and the accurate application of historic survey principles with correlation to conditions on the ground. This builds a legally-sound defense to the location of the boundary, and is crucial element to any project or transaction concerning land. Interpreting Land Records is the pre-eminent reference to help readers: Interpret historical land records, understanding their creation and documentation Become familiar with the various methods of historic surveys Overcome common research issues, including lost or corrupted records Establish boundaries free of vagueness or abstraction, with clear documentation Haphazard retracement leaves a boundary open to dispute and complicates future retracement efforts. Accuracy depends in part on quality research and the accurate interpretation of available documents. Interpreting Land Records provides comprehensive, practical guidance toward retracement based on sound evidence and technique.
United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science
by
Along the nearly 3,200 kilometers (almost 2,000 miles) of the United States–Mexican border, in an area known as the Borderlands, we are witnessing the expression of the challenges of the 21st century. This circular identifies several challenge themes and issues associated with life and the environment in the Borderlands, listed below. The challenges are not one-sided; they do not originate in one country only to become problems for the other. The issues and concerns of each challenge theme flow in both directions across the border, and both nations feel their effects throughout the Borderlands and beyond. The clear message is that our two nations, the United States and Mexico, face the issues in these challenge themes together, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) understands it must work with its counterparts, partners, and customers in both countries.
The Cartographic State: Maps, Territory and the Origins of Sovereignty
by
Why is today's world map filled with uniform states separated by linear boundaries? The answer to this question is central to our understanding of international politics, but the question is at the same time much more complex and more revealing than we might first think. This book examines the important but overlooked role played by cartography itself in the development of modern states. Drawing upon evidence from the history of cartography, peace treaties and political practices, the book reveals that early modern mapping dramatically altered key ideas and practices among both rulers and subjects, leading to the implementation of linear boundaries between states and centralized territorial rule within them. In his analysis of early modern innovations in the creation, distribution and use of maps, Branch explains how the relationship between mapping and the development of modern territories shapes our understanding of international politics today."
Brown's Boundary Control and Legal Principles
by
The new edition of Brown's Boundary Control and Legal Principles has been updated to reflect ongoing changes in surveying technology and surveying law, notably by adding water boundary expert George Cole as a contributor to revamp information on Riparian and Littorial Boundaries. Additionally, a new appendix has been introduced containing a comprehensive list of surveying books that have been referenced in court cases and legal decisions as persuasive authority over the years. It is indispensable reading for students and practicioners studying for the Fundamentals of Land Surveying licensure exam.
Borders : a very short introduction
by
Compelling and accessible, Borders : a Very Short Introduction challenges the perception of borders as passive lines on a map, revealing them instead to be integral forces in the economic, social, political, and environmental processes that shape our lives. Highlighting the historical development and continued relevance of borders, Alexander Diener and Joshua Hagen offer a powerful counterpoint to the idea of an imminent borderless world, underscoring the impact borders have on a range of issues, such as economic development, inter- and intra-state conflict, global terrorism, migration, nationalism, international law, environmental sustainability, and natural resource management. Diener and Hagen demonstrate how and why borders have been, are currently, and will undoubtedly remain hot topics across the social sciences and in the global headlines for years to come. This compact volume will appeal to a broad, interdisciplinary audience of scholars and students, including geographers, political scientists, anthropologists, sociologists, historians, international relations and law experts, as well as lay readers interested in understanding current events.
Placenames of the Civil War: Cities, Towns, Villages, Railroad Stations, Forts, Camps, Islands, Rivers, Creeks, Fords and Ferries
by
Despite the plethora of books about the Civil War, the origins of many of the placenames associated with the conflict remain a mystery. This gazetteer provides information on nearly 1600 sites, including not only locations of battles and skirmishes but also hospitals, prison camps, military academies, factories and navy yards, both North and South. Also listed are islands, rivers, creeks, fords, ferries and railroad stations, as well as many temporary fort and camp names. From Abbeville, Georgia, where Jefferson Davis stopped in May 1865 days before his capture near Irwinville, to Yorktown, Virginia, which was besieged by General George B. McClellan at the start of the Peninsula campaign, entries explain the origin of each placename and its wartime connections. An appendix listing town and city population figures from the 1860 census completes this informative supplement for Civil War scholars and enthusiasts.
Professional Surveyors and Real Property Descriptions: Composition, Construction, and Comprehension
by
The only modern guide to interpreting and writing real property descriptions for surveyors Technical land information is no longer the exclusive domain of professional surveyors. The Internet now houses a multitude of resources that nontechnical professionals--such as attorneys and realtors--access and implement on a daily basis. However, these professionals are trained in aspects of law and commerce that do not provide the proper education and experience to interpret and evaluate their land boundary information discoveries correctly. As a result, their analysis is often erroneous and the data misapplied--ultimately leading to confusion and costly litigation. Professional Surveyors and Real Property Descriptions attempts to bridge the ever-widening gap between the users of land boundary information and the land surveyors who produce it. An expert team of authors integrates the historic and legal background of real property interests with fundamental concepts of the surveying profession in a manner accessible for average readers. These provide the basics for both properly comprehending older descriptions and competently constructing complete and modern real property descriptions that foster better communication. Highlights in this book include: An in-depth exploration of historic descriptions and how to read them Coverage of the widely accepted ALTA/ACSM Land Boundary Survey standards and associated property descriptions A diverse collection of examples and practice scenarios An overview of the latest issues related to the use of GPS and GIS Written in easy-to-understand language, this practical resource assists nontechnical professionals in understanding exactly what a surveyor does and does not do, and serves as a valuable tool for obtaining the most satisfactory, accurate, and complete real property descriptions.
American boundaries : the nation, the states, the rectangular survey
by
For anyone who has looked at a map of the United States and wondered how Texas and Oklahoma got their Panhandles, or flown over the American heartland and marveled at the vast grid spreading out in all directions below, American Boundaries will yield a welcome treasure trove of insight. The first book to chart the country's growth using the boundary as a political and cultural focus, Bill Hubbard's masterly narrative begins by explaining how the original thirteen colonies organized their borders and decided that unsettled lands should be held in trust for the common benefit of the people. Hubbard goes on to show--with the help of photographs, diagrams, and hundreds of maps--how the notion evolved that unsettled land should be divided into rectangles and sold to individual farmers, and how this rectangular survey spread outward from its origins in Ohio, with surveyors drawing straight lines across the face of the continent. Mapping how each state came to have its current shape, and how the nation itself formed within its present borders, American Boundaries will provide historians, geographers, and general readers alike with the fascinating story behind those fifty distinctive jigsaw-puzzle pieces that together form the United States.
Critical toponymies : the contested politics of place naming
by
While place names have long been studied by a few devoted specialists, approaches to them have been traditionally empiricist and uncritical in character. This book brings together recent works that conceptualize the hegemonic and contested practices of geographical naming. The contributors guide the reader into struggles over toponymy in a multitude of national and local contexts across Europe, North America, New Zealand, Asia and Africa. In a ground-breaking and multidisciplinary fashion, this volume illuminates the key role of naming in the colonial silencing of indigenous cultures, canonization of nationalistic ideals into nomenclature of cities and topographic maps, as well as the formation of more or less fluid forms of postcolonial and urban identities.
Land Records and Cadastre
by
ESRI is the leading provider of GIS software to land records, assessment, and cadastral agencies worldwide. ArcGIS and its extensions can help agencies meet their primary responsibilities of ownership registration, parcel mapping, real property valuation, and data access. ArcGIS provides the tools to more effi ciently collect, convert, and improve map data; accurately assess properties; and provide Internet access to this data for the public, businesses, and other organizations.
From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow : how maps name, claim, and inflame
by
Brassiere Hills, Alaska. Mollys Nipple, Utah. Outhouse Draw, Nevada. In the early twentieth century, it was common for towns and geographical features to have salacious, bawdy, and even derogatory names. In the age before political correctness, mapmakers readily accepted any local preference for place names, prizing accurate representation over standards of decorum. Thus, summits such as Squaw Tit--which towered above valleys in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California--found their way into the cartographic annals. Later, when sanctions prohibited local use of racially, ethnically, and scatalogically offensive toponyms, town names like Jap Valley, California, were erased from the national and cultural map forever. From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow probes this little-known chapter in American cartographic history by considering the intersecting efforts to computerize mapmaking, standardize geographic names, and respond to public concern over ethnically offensive appellations. Interweaving cartographic history with tales of politics and power, celebrated geographer Mark Monmonier locates his story within the past and present struggles of mapmakers to create an orderly process for naming that avoids confusion, preserves history, and serves different political aims. Anchored by a diverse selection of naming controversies--in the United States, Canada, Cyprus, Israel, Palestine, and Antarctica; on the ocean floor and the surface of the moon; and in other parts of our solar system--From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow richly reveals the map's role as a mediated portrait of the cultural landscape. And unlike other books that consider place names, this is the first to reflect on both the real cartographic and political imbroglios they engender. From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow is Mark Monmonier at his finest: a learned analysis of a timely and controversial subject rendered accessible--and even entertaining--to the general reader.
The Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names
by
Place-names are continually changing, especially during periods of political upheaval. This brand new dictionary gives the history, meanings, and origin of an enormous range of country, region, island, city, and town names from across the world, with details of former names as well as the namein the local language. It also includes key historical facts associated with many place names.Containing 10,000 entries, this is a unique and fascinating guide for geographers, travellers, and all with an interest in current world affairs.
Surveying Our Public Lands
by
As the Nation's principle conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has basic responsibilities for water, fish, wildlife, mineral, land, park, and recreational resources. Interior, America's 'Department of Natural Resources, ' works to assure the wisest choice in managing all of our resources so that each will make it's fully contribution to a better United States -- now and in the future.
Tennessee Place-Names
by
Tennessee has never had so complete a place-names volume as this. With over 1,900 entries, this volume covers virtually all the cities, towns, villages, hamlets, and communities of Tennessee. Here you can learn when and how towns got their names. Although current names are the primary focus, previous names are also provided and discussed when information is available, and many interesting stories attached to a place have also been included. This is an essential and fascinating reference book for scholars, teachers, students, and any individual interested in the history of Tennessee.
The Penguin Encyclopedia of Places
by
This encyclopedia provides answers to thousands of questions, forming a comprehensive guide to the geography and history of over 12,000 places scattered throughout the world. Articles range from detailed accounts of individual countries, to snapshot views of small communities, to descriptions of rivers and mountains, and they contain a wealth of background information - political facts, economic analysis, social and cultural framework.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
by
A comprehensive source of geographical, economic, historical, and political information. Over 54,000 entries and 250 maps. Includes information on continents, countries, regions, cities, historical sites, and natural features. Provides pronunciations and variant spellings.
The shaping of America. Vol. 2, Continental America, 1800-1867 : a geographical perspective on 500 years of history
by
In this volume, the second in a series, D.W. Meinig provides a fresh interpretation of the American past, bringing his special geographical perspective to the years between 1800 and 1867, the period when the nation experienced a dramatic expansion in territory, population, economy, and political tension that culminated in the Civil War. As in his first volume, Atlantic America, Meinig assesses the characteristics of regions and political territories and the relations among them, examining the dual roles played by geopolitics and ethnoculture in the shaping of the United States.
The shaping of America. Vol. 1, Atlantic America, 1492-1800 : a geographical perspective on 500 years of history
by
This entirely fresh interpretation of American history by a renowned historical geographer is the first in a projected three-volume series. Meinig here focuses on colonial America, examining how an immense diversity of ethnic and religious groups--Europeans, Africans, American Indians--ultimately created a set of distinct regional societies. Richly illustrated with more then forty specially prepared maps and contemporary illustrations, this volume prompts us to rethink the settling of North America. "A standard work in its field. . . . For readers seeking a bird's-eye view of early American geography. . . there is no better guide available."--William Cronon, New York Times Book Review "Simply the best book in the English language by a contemporary geographer I have read over the past forty-odd years, and one of the most important. . . . A magisterial achievement, a grand shaking up and reassembling of fact and ideas."--Wilbur Zelinsky, Journal of Geography "All historians of the American experience should read and come to terms with this book."--Malcolm J. Rohrbough, Georgia Historical Quarterly "This book is a masterpiece in the best and old sense of the word."--Alfred W. Crosby, Southwestern Historical Quarterly
History of the Rectangular Survey System
by
With its beginning more than two hundred years ago, the United States Rectangular Survey System is typically, and yet somewhat uniquely, a record of the American frontier spirit blended with the concept of government for the people. C. Albert White, U.S. Cadastral Surveyor, presents in this document a meticulous accounting of the vast story of public land surveying and registration. This classic research contribution is a detailed reference which will undoubtedly be well used by historians, land use specialists, surveyors , and attorneys for contemporary d ecis ionmaking , unders tand ing , and judgments. Mr. White began his surveying career with the General Land Office in 1946. Subsequently, as both a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and a private surveyor, he applied his diligent abilities to a wide range of activities including investigation of the durability of bearing trees, training, instrumentation, and refinements as well as performing hundreds of "Ground Pounding" land surveys. Al White represents the U.S. surveyor of the mid-century of 1900's - a bridge and integrator of the wisdom and experience of his predecessors to the expanding uses of latest cost effective technology in cadastral surveying.
The defence of the undefended border : planning for war in North America, 1867-1939
by
This book studies the official and unofficial thought in Canada and the United States about the problem of fighting a war in North America, especially from the British withdrawal up to the consummation of alliance in 1939.
Boundaries of the United States and the several States : with miscellaneous geographic information concerning areas, altitudes, and geographic centers
by
The original territory of the United States, as defined by the treaties of November 30, 1782, and September 3, 1783, with Great Britain, was bounded on the north by Canada, on the south by the Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by the Mississippi River. It included the Thirteen Original Colonies and the areas claimed by them.
