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This upper-left corner of John Mitchell’s map of North America, "A Map of the British and French Dominions in North America...," shows the limit of English interest as of the mid 18th century. Both England and France hoped to find a water route through the continent—a “Northwest Passage.” The inset of Hudson’s Bay includes the cartographer’s speculations on its probability. The Indian nations identified here, although known to both the French and English, were not in close contact with Europeans other than to trade, and their warriors played little part in the war.

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Image Map

[Map showing land of the Sioux and Padoucas.] One plate from “A Map of the British and French Dominions in North America with the Roads, Distances, Limits, and Extent of the Settlements Humbly Inscribed to the Right Honourable The Earl of Halifax and the Other Right Honourable The Lords Commissioners For Trade and Plantations by their Lordships Most Obliged and very Humble Servant Jn. Mitchell.

Title of inset map:
A New Map of Hudson's Bay and Labrador From the Late Surveys of those Coasts.

Engraving by Thomas Kitchin.
London: Published by John Mitchell, 1755.
Dimensions of entire sheet: 21 7/8 X 29 5/16 inches.
Dimensions of image: 19 1/8 X 26 inches.
Plate number 2, Atlas Des Colonies Angloises en Amerique (after 1777). [Title of atlas taken from manuscript title page.]

Click here to view citations for all of the maps.