1953 Map of Cordova C-4

About this map

Sheridan Glacier and Scott Glacier dominate this landscape within the Chugach National Forest, where massive ice fields flow toward the coastal lowlands. The 1953 survey captures a transitional environment of active glacial retreat and braided waterways, including the winding Rude River and Glacier River. A single cabin near Bear Lake and a pair of Radio Towers at the edge of the river delta mark the only visible human footprints in a territory defined by shifting ice and water. Numerous crevasses are mapped across the high-elevation ice, reflecting the dangerous and dynamic nature of the terrain during the early 1950s. Smaller drainages like Ibeck Creek and Salmon Creek carve through the lower elevations, highlighting the complex drainage patterns created by the surrounding Shepard Glacier and Sherman Glacier.