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Ken,
 
I reply to your question to the listserv about historic topo maps:
 
The book _Map Index to Topographic Quadrangles of the United States,
1882-1940_ by Riley Moore Moffat, c. 1985, indexes the 1:125,000 and
1:250,000 maps by state.  On page viii of the forward it is
explained that the 1:250,000 was used for undeveloped areas of the west.
There are many 1:125,000 sheets in the west also.  Unfortunately, this
great book excluded the early 6-minute (Los Angeles County), pre-1940
7.5-minute quads and the 1:31,380 series of the 1940's.
 
I'm currently making an inventory of my library's historic topographic
maps.  If you would like to compare notes please feel free to reply to:
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I'm very interested in finding any index maps for the 6-minute series or
the 1:31,380 scale series.
 
John Anderson
Cartographic Information Center
Louisiana State University