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1987 Map of Bates

Name: 1987 Topographic Map of Bates
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1987
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1987

About this map

The Sumpter Valley Railroad corridor anchors this 1987 survey of the high mountain country where Grant and Baker counties meet. Mining history is deeply etched into the landscape of the Blue Mountains, with a high concentration of named workings such as the Standard Mine, Dixie Meadows Mine, and the Cracker Oregon Mine clustered near Elkhorn Ridge. This map captures the region at a time when the legacy of early gold mining towns like Sumpter, Bourne, and Greenhorn remained visible alongside the modern timber and water management infrastructure of the Whitman National Forest.

Major water bodies like Phillips Lake on the Powder River and Unity Reservoir to the south reflect 20th-century irrigation and recreation development in a terrain otherwise defined by the wild drainage of the North Fork John Day River and the Middle Fork John Day River. The map provides a look at the network of Forest Service roads and state routes, including Oregon 7, that connect isolated settlements like Galena and Austin to the broader regional economy.