1952 Map of Circle D-4

About this map

The West Crazy Mountains dominate the southern half of this landscape, rising sharply from the alluvial lowlands to the north. Surveyed in the early 1950s, the map reveals a remote subarctic wilderness defined by the transition from high ridgelines to the broad Yukon Flats. The drainage pattern is the most prominent evidence of the terrain's character, with North Fork Preacher Creek and the main stem of Preacher Creek winding through the mountain valleys before reaching the expansive basin. Included within the boundaries of the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge and the Steese National Conservation Area, this sheet shows an area entirely devoid of roads or permanent settlements at the time of the field annotation. The meandering course of Discovery Creek further illustrates the complex hydrology of the northern flats where the mountains subside.