1951 Map of Coleen

About this map

The Porcupine River and its major tributaries, the Coleen River and Sheenjek River, define this subarctic landscape along the international boundary between Alaska and Canada. In the early 1950s, this region remained a wilderness of river-driven geography, where human presence was marked by isolated outposts like Old Rampart and the Owens Cabins along the water's edge. The terrain transitions from the river lowlands at Fishhook Bend to prominent elevations such as Rabbit Mountain and Shoulder Mountain. The eastern edge follows the United States Canada border, documented by numerous monument markers and boundary peaks like Canalaska Mtn. These early surveys reflect a period when seasonal hunting, trapping, and mapping expeditions were the primary activities in the remote drainage basins of the Salmon Trout River and Rapid River.