Sea of the West

Even after cartographers re-attached California to the continent, they continued to hold misconceptions about the geography of the west. One of the greatest misconceptions was the belief that there existed a great Sea of the West.

Until the end of the seventeenth century the Pacific Ocean was thought to lie just over the Virginian mountains. With the French discovery of the Mississippi and the explorations of the Virginians beyond the mountains, most realized that the sea was not that close. Where was the sea? . . . Explorers were often told of seas to the west, even salt ones. These were undoubtedly tales of large lakes that did indeed appear to be seas to people who had never seen the boundless ocean. And so mapmakers made the sea come to the explorers.

^{Source: Hayes, Derek. America Discovered: A Historical Atlas of North American Exploration. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2004. 90-91.}