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Military or Missionary Map? The First Topographic Map of Northern New Spain (1725–1729)

The first topographic map of northern New Spain appeared as part of the military inspection of the borderlands carried out by Brigadier General Pedro de Rivera y Villalón (1724–1728). Compiled by the military engineer Francisco Álvarez Barreiro between 1725 and 1729, this remarkable manuscript map, comprising of five sheets and one overall map is known as the earliest official military map of the northern Spanish borderlands. However, apart from the northern edge of the Spanish Empire in New Mexico and Texas, the map also covers the vast area of Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Nueva Vizcaya, Extremadura and Nuevo León, reaching all the way to central Mexico. Although based on an original field survey and compiled with the clear military purpose of reinforcing the borderlands, the map shows a strong resemblance to Jesuit maps of the same region. In its style of presentation of the relief and symbolization used for the settlements, Álvarez Barreiro’s map looks like a rather typical missionary map. How did that come about, and did the Jesuits contribute to its content? Based on original research of the sources of military and Jesuit provenance, the paper analyses the role the Jesuits played in the appearance of this map, as well as how this map affected the subsequent Jesuit mapping of the region. Moreover, on this example we discuss how Jesuit mapping influenced the early military cartography (and vice versa) in general.

northern New Spain, Spanish borderlands, eighteenth century, military mapping, Jesuit cartography, Francisco Álvarez Barreiro

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