Tirion. Map of the Western Part of New Mexico and California. 1765.

Isaak Tirion (1705–1765)
Map of the Western Part of New Mexico and California
From Nieuwe en Beknopte Hand-Atlas, Amsterdam, 1765
Hand-colored copperplate engraving
Sheet size: 21 x 17 inches

Isaak Tirion was a Dutch publisher known for his atlases and town plans. He worked in Amsterdam during the 18th century, basing many of his maps on those of the famous French cartographer Guillaume de l’Isle. Over his career, he published multiple atlases, some of which were reprinted even after his death in 1765.

This rare 1765 map focuses on the Spanish and Mexican borderlands, particularly California and parts of modern-day Arizona. Although its title mentions New Mexico, the map does not actually cover that region. Instead, it highlights the Gulf of California, Baja California, and areas of Southern California and Arizona. Tirion carefully marks towns, indigenous villages, missions, and military forts, with mountain ranges shown in profile.

The map falls between two major cartographic milestones: Father Eusebio Kino’s work in the early 1700s, which confirmed that California was a peninsula, and the later explorations of the 1770s. Tirion’s map builds on Kino’s discoveries by incorporating updated details from Jesuit missionaries. Many of their settlements are shown as small churches, particularly in Baja California and northern Mexico.

One notable feature is Casa Grande on the Gila River, labeled as a mission, though it was actually a massive Native American ruin. First documented by Kino, it was later studied in depth during Juan Bautista de Anza’s 1775 expedition and is now a protected site. Other significant locations on the map include San Diego de Piquin, San Philip de JHS, and several missions along the Colorado River, such as San Dionysio, San Pablo, and San Philip. The Santa Catalina Islands off the California coast are also marked.

This 1765 edition is one of the earliest printings of the map, featuring fine engraving and original hand-coloring. It was first published in Tirion’s Nieuwe en Beknopte Hand-Atlas.