Boldly colored yet ever so delicately engraved, this complete puzzle of a young the United States shares the history of humanity, society and the industrial progress. The complete puzzle with original box shows regions and cities that have since ceased to exist. What is Oklahoma today is shown as Indian territory (1889). Cities now barely existing are shown in their glory days as industrial powerhouses, while westwards many of today’s cities have yet to be founded. It is evident for the print technique to be one of the first multi color prints, still experimental with alignment of color plates, while the ever so delicately engraved black clearly displays craftsmanship of an era long gone. The materials used are typical of the late 1800’s, puzzle pieces exist of a wood rich fibre board, even the paper and box are very heavy and made of wood rich pulp. This children’s puzzle is a piece of history within itself. A must for map, print or American History collectors. Spanish conquistador Francisco Coronado, the first European to traverse what is identified as the “Staked Plains” aka Llano Estacado in 1541, described it as follows: "I reached some plains so vast, that I did not find their limit anywhere I went, although I traveled over them for more than 300 leagues ... with no more land marks than if we had been swallowed up by the sea ... there was not a stone, nor bit of rising ground, nor a tree, nor a shrub, nor anything to go by." In the early 18th century, the Comanches expanded their territory into the Llano Estacado, displacing the Apaches who had previously lived there. The region became part of the Comancheria, a Comanche stronghold until the final defeat of the tribe in the late 19th century. After his 1852 expedition to explore the headwaters of the Red and Colorado Rivers, General Randolph Marcy wrote in his report for the United States Army: "When we were upon the high table-land, a view presented itself as boundless as the ocean. Not a tree, shrub, or any other object, either animate or inantimate, relieved the dreary monotony of the prospect; it was a vast-illimitable expanse of desert prairie .... the great Sahara of North America. it is a region almost as vast and trackless as the ocean -- a land where no man, either savage or civilized permanently abides ... a treeless, desolate waste of uninhabitable solitude, which always has been, and must continue uninhabited forever." In the latter part of the 19th century, the Llano was a refuge for the bands of Kiowas and Comanches who did not wish to be confined to reservations in Indian Territory, in present-day Oklahoma. One of their last battles against the US Army was fought on 28 September 1874 in the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon. Today, most of the area's population is localized in the principal cities of Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland and Odessa, Texas. The vast majority of the area is rural, covered by large ranches and irrigated farms. Several small- to medium-sized towns do exist, however, including Andrews, Hereford, Plainview, Levelland, and Lamesa, Texas, and Clovis, Portales, and Hobbs, New Mexico. Prohibition did not end on the Texas Plains in 1933 with repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, but continued for years at the county level. Even in 2010, some forty Texas counties, most in the Llano Estacado, remain officially "dry" to the sale of alcohol. Brief History of the McLoughlin Bros. Note the box having dropped the “Mc” in the name due to the Scotts and Irish population of New Your experiencing severe discrimination during the late 1800’s. McLoughlin Bros., Inc. was a New York publishing firm that pioneered the systematic use of color printing technologies in children's books, particularly between 1858 and 1920. The firm's publications served to popularize illustrators including Thomas Nast, William Momberger, Justin H. Howard, Palmer Cox, and Ida Waugh. The artistic and commercial roots of the McLoughlin firm were first developed by John McLoughlin, Jr. (1827-1905), who as a teenager learned wood engraving and printing while working for Elton & Co.--a New York firm formed by his father John McLoughlin, Sr. and engraver-printer Robert H. Elton. Elton & Co. (active 1840-1851) printed and issued toy books, comic almanacs, and valentines. Between 1850 and 1851, John McLoughlin, Sr. and Robert H. Elton retired--giving John Jr. control of the business. He started to publish picture books under his own name, and soon acquired the printing blocks of Edward Dunigan, a New York picture book publisher for whom Robert Elton had executed many wood engravings. However, the firm was not listed in New York city directories as McLoughlin Bros. until 1858. During the early years of this partnership, the product line expanded to include non-book toys including games, blocks, and paper dolls. By 1863, the firm had continually experimented with color illustration--progressing from hand stenciling, to the mechanical relief process of zinc etching, to the planographic process of chromolithography. In 1871 the McLoughlin firm opened a color printing factory in Brooklyn. This factory employed as many as 75 artists, and is the probable site of the firm's experimentation with color reproduction techniques. By the 1880s, McLoughlin books were regularly featuring titles in folio formats, illustrated by chromolithographs. A number of titles were probably "pirate" editions of picture books issued in England by firms like George Routledge & Sons. By 1886, the firm published a wide range of items including cheap chapbooks, large folio picture books, linen books, puzzles, games and paper dolls. After John McLoughlin, Jr.'s death in 1905, the McLoughlin firm suffered from the loss of his artistic and commercial leadership. In 1920, McLoughlin Bros., Inc. was sold to Milton Bradley, the Brooklyn factory was closed, and the company was moved to Springfield, Mass. The McLoughlin division of Milton Bradley stopped production during World War II. Ref Wikipidia, Library of New York. Desription: Overall well preserved, the artifact shows less than expected wear for its age. Browning of the paper, wear to the box, puzzle pieces and map are present, see photos. All puzzle pieces are present. Dimensions are as follows: Box Puzzle and map: Well packed, this artifact will ship for $14.00, $36 world wide $165 - Item #: 0914Puzzle89