Grand Port City Company Certificate No. 491

Denver, C.T.: News Printing Company. Very Good. 1861. No Binding. Grand Port City Company Land Certificate dated November 7, 1861. Certificates certified that the bearer is "owner of one original share in Grand Port City Utah Territory containing Fifty average lots, to be drawn after the first day of May, 1862. Certificate assigned to William M. Slaughter (No. 498). The Slaughters were early pioneers in Colorado and were stockholders in the Auraria Town Company and the Highlands Town Company. The map on the certificate places Grand Port City south of the confluence of the Green and Grand rivers, along the Colorado River. In 1861, this area was terra incognita. The Macomb Expedition of 1859 did not reach the confluence, nor travel along any stretch of the Colorado River. John Wesley Powell didn't explore this stretch until 1869. Furthermore, due south of the confluence is Cataract Canyon, some of the wildest whitewater on the Colorado River, trapped between red wall cliffs and obviously not viable as a port of any sort. Certificate in very good condition on lightweight rice paper with a light fold. One of the most unique ephemeral items we've seen from the Colorado Plateau.; Book; 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall . (Inventory #: 004527)