This exhibition invites visitors on a voyage beginning in 1540 with the very first exploration of the West Coast of North America by Europeans and represents the accumulation of knowledge leading to Thomas Jefferson’s commission of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery from 1804 to 1806. It traces many of the greatest adventures in history, including dangerous ocean voyages by Spanish, French, English and Russian explorers, the race to discover the Northwest Passage, and the very first contacts between Native Americans and Europeans. Many of the documents on exhibit tell dramatic stories in their own right, with references to explorers such as Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Dr. Francis Drake, Captain Cook, and Alexander Mackenzie, all of whom left their mark on the Pacific Coast. These stories are told through original maps of the time and illustrations - beginning with woodcuts and copperplate engravings, many decorated in original hand color.

This loan exhibition, organized by the Sonoma County Museum, will be on display at the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education located on the first floor of the Glickman Family Library on the USM Portland Campus.

April 10, 2007 Illustrated Lecture: History as Art