Crossing Cochetopa: Time Travel, Exploration and Discovery Across the Continental Divide

Abstract. The Pacific Railroad Surveys, the largest peacetime expeditionary force before the U.S. Civil War, fanned out across the trans-Mississippi West between 1853 and 1856 to determine the “most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific.” I retraced Capt. John W. Gunnison’s exploration of “the natural Central route” along the 38th parallel, crossing the Continental Divide through Cochetopa Pass in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. This paper describes my cartographic examination of Gunnison’s track and explores how modern GIS and visualization tools can bring 165-year-old maps, journals and images alive as an immersive and engaging experience.