1945 Map of Iris Pass

About this map

The Chocolate Mountains and Chuckwalla Mtns dominate this mid-century desert landscape, where the Riverside County and Imperial County line cuts through a rugged expanse of passes and arroyos. During the early 1940s, the War Department and Corps of Engineers surveyed this terrain, documenting essential water sources like Salvation Spring and Real Well that were vital for transit through the arid backcountry. The map reveals a transition in desert infrastructure, from the historic Old Salton Ehrenberg Road to the modern engineering of the Coachella Canal and East Highline Canal in the southwest corner. Transportation is defined by high-clearance routes like Surveyors Pass Road and Augustine Road, highlighting how surveyors and early travelers navigated the gaps between peaks such as Iris and Lion Head Mtn.