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1956 Map of Iris Wash

Name: 1956 Topographic Map of Iris Wash
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1957
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1957

About this map

The Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range dominates this mid-century landscape in Imperial County, reflecting the transition of the California desert into a critical military training ground. This 1956 survey captures the Camp Dunlap Naval Reservation and the specific Camp Dunlap (Site), an area that would later become known as Slab City. The infrastructure of desert agriculture and water management is clearly marked along the western edge, where the Coachella Canal and East High Line Canal parallel the foot of the East Mesa.

Strategic water crossings are documented by a series of labels including Siphon 9 and Siphon 10. In the northern reaches, the Chocolate Mountains rise sharply, hiding the Imperial Buttes Mine near the upper drainage of Iris Wash. The map preserves the exact alignment of the Niland-Blythe Road as it skirts the military reservation boundary, providing a precise record of the region's transport and utility corridors before major modern developments.