John Melish

John Melish (June 13, 1771 – December 30, 1822) was a Scottish mapmaker who published some of the earliest maps of the United States (US).

In 1816, he created the first map of the United States extending to the Pacific Ocean.

[4] Between 1806 and 1811, Melish made several trips to the United States,[5] finally settling in Philadelphia in 1811.

US President Thomas Jefferson took note of Melish's maps, sending copies to associates in Europe.

In 1816, Melish published an important map, Map of the United States with the contiguous British and Spanish Possessions, which depicted the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, thus implicitly staking a larger claim for the US than existed at that time.