1967 Map of Cantil

About this map

Koehn Lake dominates the central basin of the Fremont Valley in this late 1960s survey, illustrating a landscape defined by desert industry and transit. The Southern Pacific railroad cuts a diagonal line across the valley, serving a string of specialized settlements including Saltdale, known for its Evaporators and Salt Well, and the small siding at Cantil. To the north, the foothills of the El Paso Mountains reveal remnants of earlier activity, including the Ricardo (Site) and the Daley Mill (Ruins), suggesting a shift from mining toward the more permanent irrigation-based agriculture found at Rancho Seco. The presence of the Red Rock Sch and a lone Grave near Gypsite provides important markers for genealogists and local historians tracking the small populations that maintained these desert outposts between the mountains and the dry lake bed.