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1894 Map of Idaho Basin

Name: 1894 Topographic Map of Idaho Basin
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1894
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1894

About this map

Idaho City serves as the focal point of this 1892 survey, surrounded by the high-elevation mining settlements that defined the Idaho Basin during the late nineteenth century. The map captures the specialized geography of the region’s early industry, from the Granite Quartz workings near Quartzburg to the clustered camps of Placerville, Centerville, and Pioneerville. This was a landscape built on the movement of people and ore, illustrated by the presence of the Halfway House along the western trails and the numerous gulches like Slaughter House Gulch and Boyles Gulch that fed into Grimes Creek.

Topographer W. T. Griswold documented a complex drainage system where the North Fork Boise River and Middle Fork Boise River converge, carving through a terrain marked by prominent heights such as Wilson Peak and Sunset Mtn.. To the south, the terrain transitions into the more open Smith Prairie near the South Fork Boise River, providing a distinct contrast to the dense network of peaks and mining drainages to the north.