In the mid-1960s Canada (and especially Ottawa) was a hot-spot for innovation and experimentation that would set the stage for what was to become a complete revolution in cartography – from drafting pen, paper and printing plates to the paperless, wireless and (almost) cartographer-less map-making of today. The tale of the origin of the concept and implementation here in Ottawa of the world's first GIS (the Canada Geographic Information System) is a story worth re-telling. Developed in response to growing needs for analyzing exponentially increasing geographic and socioeconomic data, the GIS and other aspects of automated cartography were seen as a perfect candidate for the application of emerging computer technology. This talk will touch on some first hand experiences with innovations in automated cartography that occurred at much the same time, leading separate parallel streams of endeavour - Auto-Carto and GIS - and a slow and fitful acceptance of the integrated concept of the Spatial Information System that would see maps as a byproduct rather than an end-product. There will be a look at Prof David Bickmore's ambitious project for an integrated global topographic database (never completed), and at a somewhat later attempt (at a time when we should have known better) to prepare an integrated North American Environmental Atlas. And some thoughts on how we got from there to here and whether “here” in the Post-Revolutionary Era means maps without cartographers.