A map depicting how explorers believed Canada and the Great Lakes Region looked 234 years ago has a new home in a Will County museum, courtesy of a Naperville geographer.
Self-described “map enthusiast” Joe Kubal recently donated a French map from 1783 to the Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Isle a la Cache Museum in Romeoville, according to a forest preserve district news release.
The map depicts the area where fur traders were active in the 1700s, a topic celebrated in museum exhibits.
“This is one of my favorite maps,” Kubal said. “It has a lot of historic value.”
The hand-colored map is an updated version of a drawing originally created in 1703 by French cartographer Guillaume De L’Isle, according to George Ritzlin, a friend of Kubal’s and owner of an Evanston antique map and print company.
“It went through a number of editions,” Ritzlin told forest preserve district officials. “J. Dezauche issued a revised version in 1783, which used the name ‘Etats Unis’ (United States) for the recently independent former British colonies.”
De L’Isle was considered one of the best mapmakers of his time because he was skilled in evaluating information that came to him from explorers and others who had been to faraway lands, Ritzlin said.
“This was at a time when much of the world was little known,” Ritzlin said.
De L’Isle was “fortunate to have many sources on our region as the French controlled much of the northeastern North America,” he said. Reports and details were provided by “missionaries, traders, governmental officials and (other) travelers to the area,” he said.
Chris Gutmann, facility supervisor for Isle a la Cache, said the map is on display now.
“Ever since I met Joe (Kubal), he has been a dedicated supporter of forest preserves,” Gutmann said. “The map he donated shows many of the prime trading grounds for the fur trade era.
“And it’s in remarkable shape for how old it is. It’s neat to see how North America was thought to look back then.”
Kubal, a member of the Chicago Map Society, started collecting maps 30 years ago after meeting Ritzlin.
He was instrumental in providing the official name for a hard-to-find, naturally occurring waterfall in the 2,500-acre Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve near Darien.
Kubal and two colleagues in 2014 had the U.S. Geological Survey’s Board on Geographic Names formally name the 8-foot-high waterfall as Canyon Creek Falls. It is believed to be the only naturally occurring waterfall in DuPage County.
The map can be viewed at the museum, 501 E. 135th St., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
