Mapping Texas and the Gulf Coast: The Contributions of St. Denis, Olivan, and Le Maire

by Jack Jackson, Robert S. Weddle

This careful study of eighteenth-century cartography along the Gulf Coast reveals a fascinating mix of cooperation and competition between Spain and France. Louis Juchereau de Saint-Denis explored much of the region around the Gulf and sent data to his homeland of France, but he also shared information with Spanish officials. Juan Manuel de Oliván Rebolledo used this information to create several maps, one of which was drawn to demonstrate how Spain might protect itself from the French threat in Louisiana and Canada. Information from the Oliván/Saint-Denis maps soon emerged on French maps. Guillaume Delisle's 1718 "mother map" of the Gulf Coast was made possible by Francois Le Maire, a virtually unknown French missionary in Mobile. Jack Jackson and Winston De Ville examine Le Maire's various memoirs and maps, which relied on Saint-Denis for their portrayal of the "Western Country." Le Maire's work explains how Delisle acquired the information to draw his profoundly influential map. This important book for cartographers will also be of interest to the lay historian and the Gulf Coast enthusiast.

92 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1990

About the author

Jack Edward Jackson, better known by his pen name Jaxon, was an American cartoonist, illustrator, historian, and writer. He co-founded Rip Off Press, and many consider him to be the first underground comix artist.
Jackson was born in 1941 in Pandora, Texas. He majored in accounting at the University of Texas and was a staffer for its Texas Ranger humor magazine, until he and others were fired over what he called "a petty censorship violation".
In 1964, Jackson self-published the one-shot God Nose, which is considered by many to be the first underground comic. He moved to San Francisco in 1966, where he became art director of the dance poster division of Family Dog. In 1969, he co-founded Rip Off Press, one of the first independent publishers of underground comix, with three other Texas transplants, Gilbert Shelton, Fred Todd, and Dave Moriaty. Despite this, most of his underground comics work (heavily influenced by EC Comics) was published by Last Gasp.
Jackson was also known for his historical work, documenting the history of Native America and Texas, including the graphic novels Comanche Moon (1979), The Secret of San Saba (1989), Lost Cause (1998), Indian Lover: Sam Houston & the Cherokees (1999), El Alamo (2002), and the written works like Los Mesteños: Spanish Ranching in Texas: 1721–1821 (1986), Indian Agent: Peter Ellis Bean in Mexican Texas (2005), and many others.