Atlas of Canada 1st Edition – Population Density, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, 1901
In 1901 the Canadian West was still being written into existence, and this plate from the Atlas of Canada 1st Edition captures the moment. Two maps on the sheet record density of population per square mile for every township in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, drawn from the 1901 census. The odd and telling detail: settlement in Saskatchewan and Alberta clings to the rail lines, because the railway data was brought forward to the 1906 date of publication while the population counts were not.
Eight density classes carry the story, seven of them shades of brown, with the darker tints marking the more crowded townships and numerals inside each township confirming its class. Cities and towns of 5,000 or more appear as black dots scaled to population. Major railway systems and the rectangular survey system, which recorded land open to homestead entry, are both plotted.
Map Shop reproduces this Natural Resources Canada plate on paper, laminated, foam core, or framed in black or walnut molding.

