1945 Map of Cibola

About this map

The Colorado River serves as the primary artery for this mid-1940s borderlands survey, defining the boundary between California and Arizona. On the eastern banks within the Cibola Valley, the settlement of Cibola sits at the base of the Trigo Mountains, while the western side features the agricultural development of the Palo Verde Valley near Palo Verde and Rannells. This era of the landscape is marked by a mixture of irrigated river bottomlands and high-desert mining activity, notably the Hart Gold Mine tucked into the foothills. The rugged terrain to the east is punctuated by Mohave Peak and the Chocolate range, where seasonal drainage such as Gould Wash and Mule Wash carve paths toward the river. Extensive irrigation features like the Lagoon and Verde channels show the significant engineering effort to reclaim the valley for agriculture before the onset of modern large-scale water management projects.