Maps and the American Identity

I got this map off of the visitor information website setup to show visitor the different areas of Nevada. As you can see from the map it divides Nevada up into five different areas, the most notable being the Las Vegas Territory and Reno-Tahoe territory. Notice that the map mentions the most important places by name, Las Vegas, Reno and Tahoe, and leaves the rest of Nevada with a general definition. The Las Vegas and Reno-Tahoe Territories even go along the county boundary while the rest are just generalized. To me this reflects the American identity of Nevada as basically having two important areas and that no one really thinks there is anything else to the state. If the tourist information website does not even try to show off the rest of the state by there names and only as 'Pioneer' or 'Cowboy', then we defiantly know where all of the tourists are in the state.
Also in this map you can see that the areas of both Las Vegas and Reno have many towns near them listed while only the most major of outlying cities are listed in the rest of the state. To me there is just one big blank area in the middle of the map while all of the major areas are crowded to the west and south away from the middle. This reinforces the perception of Nevada as having nothing out there, and therefore reinforces the American identity of Nevada as one big wasteland. I think it would have helped if the had at least put a back shading of mountains of some sort, maybe even overlay this map over a topographic map to give it a little depth. It would have helped show that there are mountains and valleys and not make it seem like a long stretch of flatland.
But at least this map also reinforces the idea of the Wild West and the fact that it is less populated. To me it seems like a double standard where you might not want to see your state being portrayed as ‘empty’, but at the same time it has the ability to awe someone who comes from an area where there is no room and each city just blends together. So I would have to say that Nevada’s American identity is both a curse and a blessing as it allows our state to be seen by some as a wasteland, maybe, but also as an expanse of land that is not filled from edge to edge with major cities. Although the map could have been made better, it displays all of the qualities, good and bad, of Nevada.