1961 Map of Fencemaker

About this map

Fencemaker Camp and the small settlement of Bowen sit at the desert crossroads of the northern Nevada interior, as recorded in this 1961 field survey. The landscape is dominated by the north-south axis of the Fencemaker Range and the Stillwater Range, where high points like Logan Peak overlook the arid floor of the Buena Vista Valley. Life in this basin-and-range terrain was dictated by the availability of water, marked by a network of scattered points such as Polkinghorne Spring, Grayson Spring, and the Buena Vista Windmill. Evidence of the region’s economic activity is visible through the presence of Gilberts Mine and unnamed mines near Kitten Springs. Notable infrastructure from this period includes a Communication Facility and Radio Facility located near Fencemaker Pass, reflecting the mid-century integration of telecommunications into this high-desert environment along the Pershing and Churchill County line.