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1956 Map of Black River

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Black River
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1965
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1965

About this map

Salmon Village and John Herberts Village sit along the winding watercourses of the interior during the mid-1950s, a period when the landscape was defined by seasonal subsistence and remote outposts. The Porcupine River dominates the northern reaches, while the Black River and its myriad tributaries like Rock Slough and Goose Slough create a complex network of wetlands and oxbow lakes. These waterways were essential for travel in an area where the only terrestrial infrastructure was a lone Tractor Trail cutting through the brush.

Evidence of seasonal life is found at Doghouse Cabin and John Roberts Cabin, reflecting a time before modern permanent infrastructure transformed the region. The map captures the meeting of the United States and Canada border near Midnight Hill, as well as the transition from the low-lying Black River basin to the high elevations of Frozen Calf Mountain and Vacahanyande Mountain, all lying just north of the Arctic Circle.