1955 Map of Blue Spring

About this map

Little Colorado River carves a deep, winding path through this corner of the Navajo Indian Reservation during the mid-1950s. The landscape is defined by its dramatic hydrology, featuring the eponymous Blue Spring and a series of tributary drainages like Waterhole Canyon and Salt Trail Canyon. The terrain transitions from the high elevations of Pillow Mtn in the north toward the open expanse of the Painted Desert in the southeast, revealing a complex network of gorges and washes. Geodetic markers like Black Rock and Gold Hill provide fixed points across a region largely devoid of permanent human settlements, instead showing the natural boundary where the reservation meets the eastern edge of the Kaibab Nat Forest.