This 1824 German map of Arkansas Territory is a lot more illuminating than many others from the same period I've encountered. I took the liberty of enlarging a slice of the map to explain it better.
1. Texas is very clearly labeled as Mexico, as well it should have been at this point.
2. Miller County, Arkansas Territory, is clearly defined with Pecan Point on the north bank of the Red River. Miller County stopped existing after Arkansas statehood but was reborn in 1874. Note that much the western portions of Miller and Crawford counties was inside today's Oklahoma, and that around the Red River, Crawford County was soon carved into Sevier County (1828), then a portion of that into into Little River County (1867), and then some of that into Howard County (1873).
3. Fort Towson, proposed in 1819 and opened in 1824, is inside the extreme southwestern portion of the white settlements in Arkansas Territory (niederlassung = settlements), the eastern portion of the Choctaw lands, and at the border between the United States and Mexico, indicating its significance as an international peacekeeping post.
3. The boundary for the Choctaws, who had at this point recently signed their first removal Treaty at Doak's Stand, Mississippi, is further east than indicated on this map: "Grenze der Choctaws." This boundary would become the eastern line for the Choctaw Nation and the Indian Territory.
Once again, it's never a dull moment to recognize how wonderfully momentary history is recorded on these maps.
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