1961 Map of Marble Canyon

About this map

Navajo Mountain dominates the high desert skyline in this study of the borderlands between northern Arizona and southern Utah. The Colorado River carves through the landscape at Marble Gorge, crossed only at the Navajo Bridge near the long-standing crossing at Lees Ferry (abandoned). This era of the late 1950s and early 1960s captures the region as it balanced traditional Navajo and Hopi life with new industrial interests, evidenced by the Uranium mill near Tuba City. The map reveals a network of trading posts and remote outposts like Cow Springs Trading Post and Shonto, alongside ancestral sites preserved at Navajo National Monument. From the monoliths of Monument Valley to the sedimentary layers of the Painted Desert, the cartography illustrates a rugged geography defined by mesas, washes, and the deep incisions of the Grand Canyon National Park.