1959 Map of Gulkana B-1

About this map

Wrangell-St Elias National Monument covers the high-altitude terrain of this 1950s interior Alaska survey, where glacial movement and steep drainage basins dominate the landscape. The massive Sheep Glacier and Drop Glacier descend from the peaks, feeding into the lower ice of West Glacier at the southern edge of the sheet. These frozen giants carve the valleys that direct the flow of Boulder Creek and Sheep Creek, which drain the meltwater through the rugged elevations. Rising above the glacial valleys, the prominent summit of Capital Mountain stands as a primary landmark in the northeastern portion of the quadrangle. This map provides a detailed view of these remote features before the area’s eventual redesignation as a national park, recording the early field annotations and aerial photogrammetry used to document the terrain in 1959.