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1956 Map of Black River

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Black River
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1960
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1960

About this map

John Herberts Village and the traditional seasonal sites of the Gwich'in people mark this remote interior landscape during the mid-1950s. The survey illustrates a complex network of waterways where the Porcupine River and Black River meander through the vast flats north and south of the Arctic Circle. The reliance on river travel and seasonal subsistence is evident in the naming of prominent landforms like Frozen Calf Mountain and Vacahanyande Mountain, which served as critical navigation markers.

Water dominates the terrain, from the sprawling Chalkyitsik Lake to the intricate braids of Salmon Slough and Rock Slough. Along the eastern margin, the Alaska Yukon boundary underscores the isolation of this borderland, where only a few established trails connect the scattered lakes such as Mooseburg Lake and Tiinkdhul Lake. This map captures the region's geography before significant modern infrastructure, preserving the original place names of the river reaches and high points like Steamboat Mountain.