1951 Map of McCarthy

About this map

The Wrangell Mountains dominate this 1951 study of the high Alaska wilderness, an area defined by massive ice fields and early industrial mining. The settlement of McCarthy serves as the focal point, situated near the McCarthy Airstrip and the Kennicott National Monument. Evidence of the region's rich copper mining history is visible at the Jumbo Mine, located high above the glacial valleys. The drainage of the Chitina River and its tributaries, including the Nizina River and Kuskulana River, carves through a landscape shaped by the Kennicott Glacier and Nabesna Glacier. On the eastern edge, the international boundary separates Alaska from the Yukon, with White River and Russell Glacier crossing into the United States-Canada borderlands. This survey documents a transition period where the Chitina Trail provided vital overland access to remote mountain peaks like Mt Blackburn and Mt Bona.