1893 Map of Disaster

About this map

Humboldt County's northwestern landscape is defined by the massive north-south cordilleras of the Pine Forest Mountains and the Jackson Mountains, which divide the high desert basins. Surveyed in the early 1880s, this reconnaissance reveals a frontier region where survival depended on water sources like Mason's Crossing and numerous geothermal Hot Springs. The map documents the erratic hydrology of the Great Basin, where the Quinn River Lakes flow toward the vast Sink of Quinn River on the edge of the Black Rock Desert. Local landmarks such as King Lear and Disaster Peak serve as prominent navigational aids in a territory marked by remote outposts like Donna Schee and Cabin Spring. This era of western exploration captures the region before modern infrastructure, highlighting primitive routes through Thacker Pass and the importance of grazing lands at Pahute Meadows.