Earthquake in California, April 18, 1906; Special Report of Maj. Gen. Adolphus W. Greely

Cartographer(s): Maj. Gen. Adolphus W. Greely
Date: 1906
Place: Washington, D.C.
Dimensions:
Condition Rating: VG

Out of stock

SKU: NL-01515 Category: Tag:

The official U.S. Army report on the San Francisco earthquake with a large folding map of the destroyed cityscape.

Details

With an exceptional map published just weeks after the Great San Francisco Earthquake.

This is Major General Adolphus Greely’s report to the central government regarding the San Francisco earthquake. Greely was commander of the Pacific Division. In the days after the earthquake of 1906, Secretary of War William Taft for the U.S. Army sent him to render all necessary aid and relief to the inhabitants of San Francisco and California.

Greely was also expected to report on the situation on the ground, on measures taken by the army, and on situations relieved or resolved, and that is what this report aims to do. It is worth noting that the report was published already in 1906, reflecting just how efficient Greely and his troops were in lifting this heavy task.

The report consists of almost two hundred pages. Greely reports on everything from casualties and relief operations (not just in San Francisco but also in Oakland, Sausalito, Alameda, and San Jose) to sanitation efforts and the conduct of enlisted men. At the back of the volume is a lithographed map of San Francisco, in which the areas destroyed by fire are clearly delineated by a thick red line. Relief camps set up around the city and run by the army are marked in yellow on the map. 

Greely’s job was assistance, not cartography or survey, so the map was compiled directly from extant records in the office of the Army’s Chief Engineer.

 

Cartographer(s):

Condition Description

Wear to cover and spine, chipping on cover.

References