Peter Gerhard


Peter Gerhard was a historical geographer whose work focused on colonial Mexico or New Spain. He pursued graduate studies at University of California, Berkeley, and was influenced by Carl O. Sauer and Herbert Bolton. Although he did not pursue an academic career, his three volumes on the historical geography of colonial Mexico remain key reference works for the field: Guide to the Historical Geography of New Spain; The North Frontier of New Spain; and The Southeast Frontier of New Spain. He published a number of articles to those larger works. Gerhard spent a number of years in Baja California that resulted in a number of publications, including a travelers' guidebook and on missions.