1956 Map of Black River

About this map

Salmon Village and its predecessor, Old Salmon Village, occupy the central landscape of this interior Alaska territory where the Salmon Fork meets the Black River. The map documents a sparse but vital network of Gwich'in settlements and seasonal camps along the river systems, including Chalkyitsik and John Herberts Village. Further upstream, isolated outposts like Doghouse Cabin and John Roberts Cabin mark the human presence in a landscape defined by prominent massifs such as Frozen Calf Mountain and Negrohead Mountain. The complex water system of the Porcupine River dominates the northern sector, featuring the Ramparts and Deaconis Rock. A single Tractor Trail provides the only mapped overland route through this river-and-mountain geography during the mid-1950s.