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1886 Map of Escalante

Name: 1886 Topographic Map of Escalante
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1901
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1901

About this map

Escalante serves as the primary settlement in this late-nineteenth-century survey of southern Utah, situated within the fertile Potato Valley. Under the direction of J.W. Powell, the topography documents a massive landscape of uplifted plateaus and deeply eroded drainages. The Escalante River and its tributaries, such as Boulder Creek and Mamie Creek, carve through the complex terrain defined by the Aquarius Plateau to the north and the Kaiparowits Plateau to the south.

The map captures critical historical transit points including The Crossing of the Fathers on the Paria River system near the Utah Arizona Boundary Line. The sheer verticality of the region is illustrated through the Straight Cliffs and Circle Cliffs, marking the edge of a wilderness where the small outpost of Paria stands as one of the few named habitations. This reconnaissance provides a detailed view of the region before modern infrastructure, noting early land boundaries like the Navajo Indian Res. Line.