His reliance on multiple sources meant that the map combined precision with conjecture. Coastal features were highly accurate, thanks to naval surveys, while inland details often relied on traveler accounts. The interior’s rivers and lakes were sometimes misplaced or exaggerated, yet even these inaccuracies convey the fluid, uncertain nature of geographical knowledge in 1833.
It is noteworthy that Tanner’s Florida map was among the first widely circulated maps to show the territory with distinctly American boundaries and counties, distinguishing it from the earlier Spanish colonial cartography that emphasized missions and presidios.
Florida’s Environment and Natural Imagery
One of the most striking features of Tanner’s map is its depiction of Florida’s natural environment. The territory appears dominated by water—the Gulf, the Atlantic, rivers, lakes, and swamps. The map’s blue tints and flowing lines capture a sense of abundance and danger. Early travelers to Florida often described it as a land of extremes—beautiful but treacherous, fertile yet wild. Tanner’s visual language reinforces that duality.
He included the Everglades as a vast, swampy region without clear boundaries, reflecting contemporary mystery about the area. Lake Okeechobee, then called “Mayaco Lake” or “Macaco,” appears as a roughly circular body of water in the southern interior. Tanner’s labeling of this lake predates the first detailed explorations of the region, showing how much was still unknown to American science.
His treatment of the Florida Keys demonstrates his reliance on naval intelligence, especially charts made for shipping routes between Havana, Key West, and the Gulf Coast. The accuracy of these islands on Tanner’s map attests to the growing importance of Florida in trans-Caribbean trade. shutdown123