A Skeleton Map of the State of California Exhibiting the U.S. Township and Range Lines, and Boundaries of U.S. Land Districts, the County Seats and the Lines of Equal Variation of the Compass

Cartographer: Leander Ransom (compiled for the California Academy of Natural Sciences; lithographed by Britton & Rey, San Francisco)

Year: 1853

Issued in the early 1860s, this reference sheet reduces California to a township-and-range grid, shading six federal land districts (I–VI) in pastel blocks. Fine blue and red lines mark every surveyed township, anchored to three principal meridians shown at the top. An explanation at upper right describes how to locate any 36-square-mile township by its meridian base, north–south “range,” and east–west “township” count. County seats, rivers, and the few completed railroad alignments thread lightly across the grid, while a dashed isogonic line tracks magnetic declination across the state. The map’s stark geometry highlights the federal public-land survey system that governed homestead entry, mining claims, and railroad land grants during California’s rapid settlement.