1943 Map of Blackfoot

About this map

The Snake River corridor dominates this 1940s landscape, serving as the vital artery for an extensive network of irrigation that transformed the high desert. Just north of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation boundary, the city of Blackfoot appears as a developed hub featuring the State Hospital and a junction for the Union Pacific Railroad. This survey captures a period of significant agricultural engineering, where dozens of named waterways like the Aberdeen-Springfield Canal and Peoples Canal create a grid of productivity across the flats. South of the river, the terrain shifts abruptly from these irrigated lowlands into the high, uncultivated reaches of Stevens Peak and Buckskin Basin. Notable cultural landmarks of the era include the Indian Agency and Indian School located near Fort Hall, while landmarks like Ferry Butte provide natural navigation points above the river's winding Parsons Slough.