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1886 Map of Escalante

Name: 1886 Topographic Map of Escalante
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1896
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1896

About this map

Escalante and the remote settlement of Paria anchor this late-nineteenth-century survey of the high desert along the border of Garfield and Kane counties. Mapping by the Powell Survey reveals a landscape dominated by massive geological formations, from the high timber of the Aquarius Plateau to the stark Straight Cliffs and Kaiparowits Plateau. The drainage patterns are meticulously traced, following the Escalante River through Potato Valley and southward toward the Navajo Indian Res Line.

A significant historical landmark is noted at The Crossing of the Fathers on the river, a point of immense importance for early explorers and travelers in this region. This survey captures the territory as it existed before modern infrastructure, where travel relied on watercourses like Boulder Creek, Winslow Creek, and Cottonwood Canyon and the natural passages through the Circle Cliffs and Water Pocket Canyon.