Emil Fischer (cartographer)  Emil B. Fischer (1838 or 1839 in Dresden, Saxony – September 23, 1898 in Silverton, Colorado) published six detailed maps of the San Juan area of southwestern Colorado between 1883 and 1898. A surveyor’s son, he came to America around 1872. He moved to Durango in 1880 when the building of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway to the San Juan attracted widespread attention, then to Silverton. These maps aided silver and gold prospectors to file their claims; they enabled investors to locate mines and view their proximity to famous neighboring mines; and they encouraged tourists to visit the depicted mining regions and invigorate the local economies. This quiet, unobtrusive German immigrant made many mountain-climbing pilgrimages for his meticulous drawings of San Juan and adjacent counties, which he subsequently transferred to maps that were as attractive as they were functional. Fischer drew his finished maps, even the text elements, entirely by hand before engraving and printing, distinguishing them from the typeset variety that came before and after. They are scrupulously correct in detail and were regarded as authoritative for many years. The complex terrain of the San Juan area, characterized by precipitous peaks ranging from 11,000 to 14,000 feet, rugged passes, deep gorges, alpine valleys, and glacial basins, rendered accurate maps indispensable for miners and created a niche for this cartographer. Following are descriptions of Fischer’s six maps:  1. 1883, “Map of the San Juan Mining Districts.” It includes insets with plats of the towns of Durango, Silverton, and Rico. The scale is one inch to three miles. 1886, “Map of Red Mountain and the Mining Region of San Juan, Ouray, San Miguel and Dolores Counties.” A small inset shows the system of wagon roads connecting the towns of Telluride and Ouray with Montrose. The scale is one inch to one mile. 1891, “Map of Red Mountain and the Mining Region of San Juan, Ouray, San Miguel and Dolores Counties,” intended to update its predecessor with the identical name and scale. Inset plats focus on these three mining locales: Newman Hill at Rico, the Red Mountain Area north of Silverton, and Silver Lake in Arrastra Basin, east of Silverton. The map shows the locations of hundreds of the San Juan Region’s named mines and placers and may constitute a comprehensive compilation.