Reading maps, writing landscapes: Cartographic illustration in Arizona, 1912-1962

During Arizona's first century of statehood, popular cartographic illustration played an important role in the public conceptualization of the state as a tourism destination. In 1928, commercial artist Ruth Taylor introduced the word "cartograph" to describe her illustrated maps of tourism destinations, notably those in the National Parks of the American West. This study adopts Taylor's term, arguing that it describes a category of map not included in the existing nomenclature of critical cartography. Cartographic illustrations -- cartographs -- of Arizona utilize formal map-making conventions to tell stories about place-based identity. They also introduce pictorial illustration, unique naming conventions, and written narratives to create fully-imagined, carefully visualized landscapes.;Cartographs emphasize the touristic imaginary of Arizona. Traditional maps, used for way-finding and other pragmatic tasks, certainly contain embedded cultural meanings. Cartographs differ, however, in their intentional focus on narrative imaginaries of place. Cartographs narrate historical events, pseudo-histories, and mythologized fantasies alongside one another, combining these elements into a holistic visual landscape.;The study pursues three primary objectives. First, it contributes to the documentation and explication of Arizona's touristic imaginary. With the notable exception of the Grand Canyon, the history of tourism and image-making in Arizona remains under-explored. This study seeks to widen the descriptive and analytical lens through which Arizona is seen. It travels beyond the Grand Canyon, investigating the touristic landscapes of the Sonora Desert, Territorial and colonial Spanish Arizona, and what period illustrators called "Indianland." Second, the study highlights the historical value of popular visual ephemera. It reveals the ways in which cartographs manifest the cultural constructs of place and identity. Third, the study participates in the nascent disciplinary dialogue surrounding the critical history of graphic design. It situates cartographs as a particularized form of graphic (and cartographic) representation leveraged to create and disseminate narratives of Arizona as an appealing tourism destination.;When interrogated in relationship to one another, cartographs of Arizona illustrate the historical processes through which Arizona came to be identified as a tourism destination. Using historical documentation and rhetorical analysis this study reveals how twentieth century map-makers and map users collaborated to imagine Arizona as a tourist's paradise. iv...