Nice example of Arthur Ide's map of Montana, published shortly after Montana's admission to the Union as a State on November 8, 1889.
It is probable that Ide's map was published on the occasion of Montana's admission as a State and is likely the earliest map of the State of Montana and certainly the earliest map of the State published in Montana.
Ide's map of Montana is perhaps the single most advanced and up to date map of Montana published to date.
Rumsey suggests that the map "appears to derive from the army maps of the period," and it is probably the single most advanced map of Montana published to date. It provides immense detail of the state's natural and human geography, including waterways and elevations; county boundaries and hundreds of townships; and towns and railroads (including the northern spur of the Great Northern Railway, still under construction in 1890). Hundreds of townships have been surveyed, although there remain large gaps in the more mountainous regions and Indian Reservations. The map extends south to include all of Yellowstone National Park, with rail service by a spur of the Northern Pacific.
As noted by Rumsey:
Scarce locally published map of Montana, which appears to derive from the army maps of the period. Reeder and Helmick drew the map and are unknown.
The map notes Indian Reservations, counties, railroads roads, mountains, lakes, rivers, towns. The vast majority of townships have been surveyed, although a number of the townships in the more mountainous regions and Indian Reservations have not yet been surveyed. The map extends south to include all of Yellowstone, with rail service by spur coming off the Northern Pacific Railroad.
The map is of the utmost rarity. We note no other examples of the map appearing at auction or in a dealer catalogue in the past 60 years and only the second example we have ever handled. There is also a second edition, published in Philadelphia by J.L. Smith in 1991, for which we note only a single example in a dealer catalog in the past 30 years (High Ridge Books, Catalog 27, #214, 1993).