Errata & Editorial Policy

Policy

Every plotted claim traces to a source. Nothing is stated as fact on inference alone: where a location is approximate the marker shows it, where a date comes from a library label the caption says so, and where two copies of the same manuscript report disagree, both figures are shown rather than harmonized. Corrections are logged here permanently rather than silently fixed. To report an error, use the repository's issue tracker or the contact in the footer.

Corrections log

• 2026-07-14 — Military map #31, Armed Encounter on Sacramento (1817). The previous version characterized the result as an "indigenous strategic victory." The register and the source (Bancroft II) record a standoff from which the Spanish retreated. Corrected to "Standoff — Spanish retreated."
• 2026-07-14 — Gallery quality exclusions. Two image files acquired in July 2026 proved defective on review: the Duflot Quadra/Nutka plate was truncated and the 1799 atlas sheet 25 was a saved error page, not an image. Both were excluded, then re-acquired complete on 2026-07-15.
• 2026-07-15 — Ord & Hutton 1849 Los Angeles plan. The gallery shows the Los Angeles Public Library's scan of a period copy. A 1975 facsimile of the same plan (Historic Urban Plans, Ithaca NY) is held in the research collection but is not displayed, to avoid presenting a modern reprint as a period impression.
• 2026-07-15 — Coordinate verification pass, 8 sites. The Presidio of San Diego was plotted near Ballast Point instead of Presidio Hill, and the Presidio of Santa Barbara at the harbor instead of the presidio site; both fixed on three maps. On the missions map: Mission Soledad moved to its actual site, the San Bernardino estancia to the Redlands asistencia site, the San Gorgonio estancia to the Banning area, the Suisun outstation to the Rockville and Cordelia end of Suisun Valley, and two Santa Ysabel sites adjusted.
• 2026-07-15 — Reference-layer coordinate audit (pre-DOI gate G1). A systematic cross-map check against the verified mission and presidio table found 12 stale reference pins inherited from the site's first version, including Mission La Purísima 78 km out of place, Mission Santa Inés 31 km, Mission San Fernando 13 km, and Mission San Diego plotted at the presidio's location. All conformed to the verified sites. Subgroup labels on the Native California map were also tested point-in-polygon against their parent territories; two were nudged inside, and the redundant Ipai and Tipai labels were replaced by glossing the Handbook's own Tipai and Ipai territory polygons as Kumeyaay.

Standing flags (not errors, but known limits)

• Two Savage transcript copies of Arrillaga's 16 July 1793 defense report disagree on San Francisco's gun count (2 vs 6) and San Diego's (2 vs 3 in the 1823 reports). The Presidial System map shows both figures.
• Gallery captions marked "catalog date" or "edition unverified" repeat the holding library's label and have not yet been checked against the sheet imprint. A verification pass is in progress, claims-and-boundary maps first.
• Native California map, Carquinez Strait. The territory boundaries follow the Handbook of North American Indians vol. 8, with one drawn editorial deviation: the Karkin (Ohlone) are shown holding both shores of Carquinez Strait, taking in the Vallejo and Benicia shore, where the Handbook plate ends Costanoan territory at the south shore. The departure is flagged in the map's About panel and in both affected popups.
• The 1799 hydrographic atlas sheet identifications follow the Library of Congress contents list and sheet order; sheets 1 and 8 are confirmed from the sheets themselves, the rest are not yet.