Fletcher W. Hewes & Henry Gannett, Rank of States in Population at Each United States Census (1883)

This chart, published in Scribner's Statistical Atlas of the United States, Showing by Graphic Methods Their Present Condition and Their Political, Social and Industrial Development shows the addition of states (colored in beige) to the original thirteen states (colored in red) during Westward Expansion throughout the nineteenth century, as well as how much populations grew in the newer Western states as they were added. A primary example of the major draw to the West is the California Gold Rush of 1849. After discovering gold at Sutter's Mill in early 1848, hundreds of thousands of people began their trek to the West to try their fortunes at discovering gold. Before gold had been discovered in the future state of California, the population of that region was a mere 160,000, which had increased by over 300,000 after gold was discovered. From this chart, the viewer is able to observe California's growth from being the 29th most populated state in 1850 to being the 24th most populated state in 1880. This chart provides the viewer with the ability to understand fluctuations in population overtime in the nineteenth-century United States.