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1917 Map of Gila Butte

Name: 1917 Topographic Map of Gila Butte
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1945
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1945

About this map

The Gila River Indian Reservation dominates this early twentieth-century landscape, revealing a complex network of indigenous settlements, government schools, and vital water infrastructure. Near the center of the sheet, Snaketown and Casa Blanca stand as established communities, with the Casa Blanca Indian School and several cemeteries indicating long-term habitation. The arid environment is shaped by the Gila River and the Little Gila River, supplemented by the Consolidated Canal and numerous U.S.R.S. Pumps managed by the U.S. Reclamation Service.

Commerce and transport are evidenced by the Sweetwater Store Indian Trading Post and the Arizona Eastern Railroad cutting across the northwest corner. To the south, the Sacaton Mountains and Sacaton Butte rise above the alluvial plains, while the Santa Cruz Wash flows toward the Southern Pacific rail line at the southern boundary. This survey provides a primary record of the Pima and Maricopa lands before later agricultural and urban expansions altered the rural desert character.