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1954 Map of Council Island

Name: 1954 Topographic Map of Council Island
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1956
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1956

About this map

The Missouri River cuts through this landscape at a tri-county junction, marking the borders between Chouteau, Fergus, and Blaine Counties. This 1954 field survey documents a river environment before modern alterations, highlighting navigability and crossing points such as Holmes Rapids and the Lohse PN Ferry near Council Island. The topography is defined by the sharp transition from the river valley to the high, dissected plateaus of Whiskey Ridge.

Evidence of earlier occupation appears as Ruins located near the headwaters of Dog Creek, while the southern reaches are dominated by the winding path of Seventy-nine Road through Seventy-nine Coulee. The naming of the Iron City Islands and various VABM triangulation stations like VABM Holmes suggests the importance of both the river trade and early geodetic surveying in this isolated portion of central Montana.