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1956 Map of Lanfair Valley

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

USGS Topo · Published 1957

About this map

Mining operations and rugged desert infrastructure define this mid-century survey of the California high desert. The landscape is marked by industrial activity, including the True Blue Mine, California Mine, and the Leiser Ray Mine near Tungsten Flat. These sites are linked by a network of unimproved desert tracks and the historic Old Government Road, which snakes across the terrain toward the Piute Range. The reliance on scarce water sources is evident through the mapping of Hackberry Spring, Vontrigger Spring, and several isolated reservoirs.

Terrain features like the Grotto Hills and the Hackberry Mountains dominate the horizon, while a lone Landing Strip and a modern Pipeline represent the sparse 1950s human footprint in this corner of San Bernardino County. Geologists and local historians can trace the specific locations of numerous unnamed prospects, shafts, and tunnels that reveal the extent of prospecting in the Vontrigger Hills and surrounding valleys.