1951 Map of Fort Totten

About this map

Fort Totten and the Fort Totten Indian Agency serve as the focal point for this early 1950s survey of the southern shoreline of Devils Lake. The landscape is defined by the glacial geography of the Spirit Lake Reservation, featuring the prominent heights of Sullys Hill and the Sullys Hill National Game Preserve. The map documents a complex hydraulic environment where the Big Coulee drains south toward Wood Lake, cutting through a terrain dotted with small glacial lakes such as Sweetwater Lake and Mallard Lake. Evidence of early 20th-century rural infrastructure is visible in the presence of the Great Northern railroad line in the northeast and isolated educational landmarks like the Lone Tree Sch No 1 and the already Pleasant Prairie Sch No 1 (Abandoned), which suggest shifting settlement patterns on the prairie during this post-war era.