Maine Memory Network

Contributed by Maine Historical Society

Description

Co-cum-go-muc-sis Lake bearing from S. 15 degrees E to South 30 degrees E.- and in the distance Katahdin bearing about S 35 degrees E.-and Spencer Mount S. 5 Degrees W.- the small Lake on right is on the stream connecting Horn Pond with Cocumgomucsis Lake.

The Talcott survey, headed by Capt. Andrew Talcott, mapped the northern boundary of Maine to help settle the border dispute between Canada and the United States.

"Only trappers and Indians had ever beheld Mount Katahdin (at left), when these top-hatted surveyors captured the mountain in all its virgin splendor. The highly accurate image, rendered in 1840 looking southwest out over Caucomgomoc Lake, was achieved by suspending a prismatic device over paper and tracing the outline cast onto the paper. Watercolor was added later."- from Barry, William and Geraldine Tidd Scott. "Charting a wilderness. Rare drawings of the trackless North Woods resurface after 150 years." Downeast Magazine, June 1995. p. 59-60.

The original painting is held at the National Archives, Washington, D.C.

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About This Item

• Title: Cocumgomucsis Lake view to Katahdin, Talcott Survey, 1841
• Creator: P. Harry
• Creation Date: 1841
• Subject Date: 1840
• Location: Piscataquis County, ME
• Media: Phototransparency
• Dimensions: 28 cm x 26 cm
• Local Code: Coll. 2174
• Collection: Talcott collection
• Object Type: Image

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Cross Reference Searches

Standardized Subject Headings

• Explorers and exploration
• Explorers
• Northeast boundary of the United States
• Surveyors
• Mount Katahdin
• United States--Surveys
• Watercolors

People

• Talcott, Andrew

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For more information about this item, contact:

Maine Historical Society
485 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-1822 x230
Website

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