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1885 Map of La Sal

Name: 1885 Topographic Map of La Sal
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1918
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1918

About this map

Moab and the agricultural pocket of Spanish Valley sit at the center of this reconnaissance study, conducted during the era of the great western surveys. The landscape is dominated by the massive La Sal Mountains, where peaks like Mt Peale and Mt Waas rise above the surrounding plateaus. To the west, the deep incisions of the Colorado River and the Green River meet at the head of Cataract Canyon, bordered by the dramatic Orange Cliffs.

Evidence of early industrial and transit corridors appears in the north with the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad tracing a path through the arid terrain. The map captures a moment when settlements like Plainfield and La Sal were fledgling outposts in a territory defined by its canyon systems and the high timber of the La Sal National Forest. This document synthesizes data from the Hayden and Powell surveys, reflecting the primary cartographic record of the region before modern development.