1963 Map of Chignik B-4

About this map

The Black Lake basin and the surrounding glacial highlands of the Alaska Peninsula dominate this 1963 survey. The landscape is defined by the hydrologic movement from the high ice of Crab Glacier and the slopes of Knife Peak down into the expansive waters of the lake. The Chignik River and its West Fork form a central drainage network, fed by numerous seasonal and perennial streams including Rapid Creek, Crater Creek, and the curiously named Bearskin Creek. The terrain transitions from the low-lying marshy areas near the lake to the prominent elevation of Rifle Butte. This map documents a wilderness prior to significant modern infrastructure, showing an unsurveyed landscape where land lines were predetermined by the Bureau of Land Management without field checking, preserving the raw state of the peninsula's interior as it was captured through mid-century photogrammetry.