DESCRIPTION: Very rare cyanotype (blueprint) map of Nevada's gold placer districts, published in 1948 by Jack Douglas, "The Old Prospector," of Dutch Flat, California. Designed for independent prospectors and self-published, the map identifies numbered locations where placer gold had been found, keyed to county-by-county descriptions with directions and distances from nearby settlements. Towns, rivers, county boundaries, and principal highways provide the geographic framework.
This Nevada sheet is number 139 in Douglas's advertised series of thirteen placer maps, numbered 137 through 149, covering eleven western states, Alaska, and British Columbia. Offered at $1 each or three for $2, postpaid, the series provided affordable geographic guides to reported gold occurrences. Douglas also published separate lode maps, including California map number 153, distinguishing deposits in bedrock from placer gold in loose gravel and sediment.
The Nevada directory includes Rabbit Hole, Rosebud, and Placeritas in Pershing County; Manhattan and Round Mountain in Nye County; and Eldorado near Nelson in Clark County. An entry near Las Vegas records placer ground submerged beneath Lake Mead. Additional notes acknowledge gold in bedrock crevices and caution that a reported occurrence does not guarantee permission to prospect.
Practical instructions advise motorists to inquire locally before leaving numbered highways, carry extra water, and place brush beneath tires when bogged down. Crossed mining tools, a compass indicator, and a small prospector illustration decorate the sheet. Advertisements promote Douglas's book "Gold in Placer" and membership in the United Prospectors organization, placing the map within his broader program of publications and support for small-scale gold seekers.
Published during the early postwar years, the map reflects an active community of independent miners and aspiring gold prospectors. Douglas had helped establish United Prospectors at Dutch Flat, Placer County, California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills in 1947, and his inexpensive maps and instructional publications supported that audience. The sheet also coincides with the beginnings of the federally encouraged uranium rush, which brought renewed attention to mineral prospecting across the American West.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1948
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States
BODY OF WATER: N/A
CONDITION: Good.
Clean with no issues.
COLORING: Blueprint.
ENGRAVER:
SIZE:
" x
"
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION:
PRICE: $595
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