1952 Map of Deep Lake

About this map

Deep Lake sits at the northwestern edge of this landscape where the high peaks of the Colville National Forest and Kaniksu National Forest meet. The 1952 field check documents an active period of resource extraction across the Stevens and Pend Oreille county line, evidenced by a cluster of named workings including the Bechtol Mine, Thompson Iron Mine, and Tyee Mine. The industrial footprint is balanced by a network of seasonal or logging outposts such as Smackout Camp and Speller Camp, connected by a complex system of jeep trails that navigate the steep drainages of Republican Creek and Smackout Creek. Local family names and small-scale clearings like the Divine Place, Peterson Clearing, and Pfaff Clearing suggest a pattern of remote habitation and early 20th-century homesteading within the broader forested valleys of Smackout Valley and Paradise Valley.