1956 Map of Kane Spring NW

About this map

The Salton Sea Test Base dominates the eastern edge of this arid landscape in Imperial County, highlighting the mid-century intersection of military operations and the California desert. Surveyed largely between 1940 and 1956, the terrain is defined by a series of intermittent drainages including Arroyo Salada, Tule Wash, and Tarantula Wash, all flowing toward the below-sea-level basin. Water remains the primary shaper of human activity here, evidenced by the Artesian Well and Spring (Alkali) that provided critical points of interest in an otherwise dry expanse of Sand Dunes and shifting alluvial fans. A network of Levee systems and simple Jeep Trails provides the only infrastructure across the basin floor, while numerous benchmarks like BM -135 track the dramatic descent into the depression south of the Salton Sea.